Rusty Zinn - Sittin' & Waitin' (Feat. Kim Wilson) (1996)

Throughout his career blues kingpin Kim Wilson certainly has associated himself on stage and recordings with guitar players of the highest calibre. Rusty Zinn is no exception and on this release he proves it. Additionally he has a strong, youthful (in a good way), and unaffected voice which he uses to great effect on this release. Check out his fine renditions of "Don't Let Daddy Slow Walk You Down" ,"30 Second Lover" and "Stand By Me" (not the Ben E. King song of the same name), where he really stretches out his voice. Kim Wilson also makes a strong appearance on vocals and harp on some nice cuts and shares production credit with Hammond Scott.

There are 14 cuts in all, two written by Wilson, one by Zinn and the rest are less obscure to obscure covers. Whether shuffle, mambo, low down Howlin' Wolf sounding, or the Lucille-esque title cut, every groove is solid as a rock and expertly constructed, not a single dud. Great production too. Nice horns arrangements with lots of space for vocals and solos to breath. Veteran side men and a warm "live sound" on this recording add to its strength. Outstanding guitar work. Toneful and heartfelt, simplicity and spontaneity rule on these solos.

Zinn may be a young man, but the time he has spent learning guitar was extremely productive because he caught up and passed guys who are much older. Someone once said "you spend the first ten years learning what to play, the next ten what not to play, and ten more putting it all toghether". It sounds like Rusty took the simple approach of just doing the first part of that and skipping straight to the end, and it didn't take any ten years either. He has listened to the "right" (whatever that means) records and it shows. He has made a big contribution to the music which he obviously loves (from the sound of this record) and has a very promising future and present. Highly recommended.