This is The New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.

Welcome to The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick. Now, I don't want to be a grinch,

but around this time, when you've heard certain holiday songs for, I don't know, the hundredth time,

you get a little cranky.

So a few years ago, we invited a musical hero of mine to come join us in the studio to shake

things up. That hero would be a man named Kirk Douglas, who professionally goes by the name

Captain Kirk. He's the lead guitarist of the roots.

Living life in these cold streets.

Hey, who's worrying about you be when you are now running around in these streets?

These days, the Roots are really well known as the House Band for Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, but for hip-hop fans, the roots had been one of the most innovative

and hardworking acts in the genre for a very long time.

Kirk Douglas is a key part of the band's signature hybrid

of soul, jazz, funk, and rock.

And I thought he would be the ideal person

to put a new spin on some very traditional holiday tunes.

It's that time of year. We hear the familiar songs over and over. You're walking

through a department store. You're in the backseat of a cab. You're overhearing somebody else's

headphones on the subway, whatever it is. Now, this isn't a matter of stump the stars, but I want to ask you, is there something

that you can play us a kind of standard in your own way so that we'll love it again?

Should we give it a shot?

I've never really sat and tried to do this.

So it...

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