Eddie Turner has been a guitarist since he was 12 years old and cut his musical teeth with Racy Nelson and Mother Earth in the 70’s. Having grown up outside of Chicago, he heard the blues masters . But he also absorbed the sound of Cream and Hendrix in  his early career. Now he has a very eclectic sound, and he and The Troubled Twins explore it to the fullest in his first live album, Naked ,In Your Face,” recorded last August at The Blues Can in Calgary, Alberta.

The Troubled Twins are bassist Anna Lisa Hughes, who also sings and is featured on several cuts here as lead vocaist, and drummer Kelly Kruse. Together with Turner, they have made a rather extraordinary album.

I was not crazy about the first tune, “Jody” so for me things really get hopping with “Mistreated,”  written by and featuring Anna Lisa Hughes. It’s  a slow blues with Turner providing some very tasty blues solos on guitar to go with Hughes’ vocal.  “So Many Roads” is a funky, jazzy track with solid bass from Hughes and a soulful vocal from Turner.

I haev to admit that I am usually not a fan of very long jams on record. They are a different experience in concert, but on record I tend to get bored. “Rise” is over 11 minutes long, but it does have some nice instrumental harmony and ringing tones. I could see it for meditation music or even background music for work, but it is not really my thing.

On the other hand, “Buried Alive In The Blues” is a marvelous cover of this classic blues, with Hughes providing a strong, sensual vocal.  Turner and Hughes deliver a interesting mix of New Orelans and Hendrix-style psychedelia on “Blues Fall Down Like Rain,” along with some fierce guitar It totally works. So  does the breathy, aching vocal that Hughes brings to the song made popular by Eric Burdon and The Animals, “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood.” It’s a totally different approach. it leads into another long song, ‘Dangerous,” which is over 12 minutes but with the swaggering vocal and instrumental pyrotechnics it won’t bore you at all.   “Secret” closes everything out with a light rock song that could easily  incite ecstatic dancers .

This is not an album that I love, but it certainly one that I appreciate  I did enjoy most of it and some of it I thought was brilliant. It is bold, imaginative and different and the live audience was very appreciative I believe anyone who enjoys jams and long songs will enjoy this album very much.