Johnny Winter was the headliner at the 2006 Columbia Blues Festival, and his set of blistering Texas blues certainly lived up to its all-star billing. But the real surprise of last year’s festival, and the high point for many, was the mind-blowing performance turned in by guitarist Eddie Turner and his band. Turner not only tapped into every blues master from Freddie King to Jimi Hendrix, he did so with a fluid, effortless grace that is extremely rare in the form. He literally left fans in a state of astonishment, their jaws dropped open in awe. Turner is a guitarist of amazing creativity. His style has been described as an amalgam of the Afro-Cuban rhythms of his heritage and the Chicago blues, jazz, and psychedelic rock that influenced him as a teenager. He was born in Cuba but grew up in Chicago. He picked up his first guitar, a candy-apple-red Japanese Teisco model, when he was 12 years old. In the early 1970s, he moved to Boulder to attend the University of Colorado. He immersed himself in the local music scene and played in the area’s first punk/R&B band, The Immortal Nightflames. He later played with Grammy nominees Tracy Nelson and the band Mother Earth. Turner’s big break came when fellow Colorado guitarist Tommy Bolin left the popular band Zephyr to play in the James Gang and eventually Deep Purple. Turner excitedly joined the psychedelic-rock-oriented Zephyr as guitarist, singer, and songwriter. But tragedy struck the band when lead singer Candy Givens died, and deeply shaken, Turner stepped away from music and became a realtor in Denver. His guitar was never far out of reach, however, and a decade later, Turner joined the band of electric jazz trumpeter Ron Miles. In 1995, Turner joined the band of Colorado roots musician Otis Taylor, with whom he recorded five albums and toured the U.S. and Europe. In 2005, Turner released his first solo album, “Rise,” a genre-melding disc that veers from blistering blues-rock to eerie, gospel-tinged psychedelic tunes. “This is a stunning album, and the dawn of a new musical force and presence,” gushed a critic in Blues Beat magazine. “A strong, highly stylized release from an artist previously in the background,” penned a critic in Blues Revue. “Turner peppers his music with equal parts rock, funk, and gospel, guided by a love of Hendrixian guitar.” With his second album, “The Turner Diaries” released in early 2006, Turner continued to push the blues envelope and take bold artistic chances. If you missed his set last year, make sure you don’t miss Eddie Turner this year.