Despite flaunting an all star blues roster—Son Seals, Otis Rush, Rusty Zinn, Kim Wilson, Joe Louis Walker, etc.—except for a few exceptions, this CD tends to sound samey and drags. The problem is that several of the musicians here overplay—a disturbing tendency in most contemporary blues releases—and a lot of the songs—“Little Drummer Boy,” “We Three Kings,” “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”—simply don’t translate when given a blues arrangement. The proceeds get off to a horrible start with “White Christmas,” which includes some of the worst guitar tones imaginable from South Side Slim and Roy Gaines. Roy Rogers then rights the ship with a tasty slide guitar treatment of “Winter Wonderland.” Other highlights here include a Corey Harris duet with Tom Morgan on “Let It Snow,” Barry Goldberg’s “Rockin Around the Christmas Tree” and Kim Wilson’s chromatic workout on “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” These fine tracks are largely surrounded by clutter. Modern blues aficionados might enjoy this novel approach, but as for me, this Yuletide I’ll again be listening to Charles Brown’s “Please Come Home For Christmas” and Clarence Carter’s “Back Door Santa.” Ho-ho-ho.