Before his death, the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia described Steve Kimock as his “favorite unknown guitar player.” Wednesday evening’s Liberty Hall performance by the Steve Kimock Band struck a blow against that unknown status.

Without a talented lyricist, lousy songs pull a performance down to mediocrity. So the Steve Kimock Band performs nothing but instrumentals.

Kimock has assembled what is essentially a jazz fusion band and set its members to the task of playing exploratory rock music. Assisting Kimock are guitarist Mitch Stein, a veteran sideman, drummer Rodney Holmes, a jazz musician who cut his rock teeth playing with Santana and who plays on Santana’s hit “Smooth, ” and bassist Alphonso Johnson, who earned his fusion stripes as a member of the seminal jazz-rock ensemble Weather Report.

“Tongue and Groove” and “Elmer’s Revenge” set the tone for the extended explorations the band leaned into with fervor. Echoes of influences as diverse as Jeff Beck and King Crimson could be heard.

“Saber Tooth,” a Rodney Holmes composition, is built over programmed rhythms and the frenetic, almost mystic techno, groove the band improvised over was compelling and hypnotic.

The first set closed with “Avalon,” which provided Kimock with one of the few opportunities to play a really majestic solo.

The second set began strong with the swamp funk of “Thing One,” a new number, and “A New Africa,” which echoes the guitar-based pop that led Paul Simon to produce his “Graceland” album.

Too much of a good thing may be a good thing, but it’s still too much. Midway through the second set, the crowd had thinned by half and Kimock was letting most of the inspiration flow from Stein and Holmes. The set finished bravely with the engaging “5 B4 Funk” more than four hours after the first set began.