MEL D. COLE @ VillageSlum on the lens
Going to see the Roots Jam Sessions at the Highline Ballroom is something like going to church mixed with going on a safari. Hear me out on this one…
When you go to church you know that there will be some part in the service where someone gets touched by the holy spirit. They will start chanting and speaking in tongues and then breakdancing. At least, that is how it pops off at the churches that I go to.
The Roots at the Highline Ballroom are in their natural element. These dudes are performers of the highest caliber. Nothing slows down the Roots movement at the Highline. There are no commercial interruptions or nervous TV hosts. There is only the jam.
Earlier in the week I was treated to a performance at Carnegie Hall from the Roots and some other notables. This was my first time in Carnegie Hall and Chocolate Snowflake selected the best seats. It’s incredible to watch these dudes transform themselves from the staid surroundings of Carnegie Hall into the loose fittings of the Highline.
I don’t bring C.S. with me to the Highline because I am usually getting too loose my damn self. This show was courtesy of the people at OKayPlayer. Earlier that evening I was treated to the bar courtesy of the corporate card of ONSmash.com and Capitol Records. So as you can imagine, I was quite loose.
The Highline Ballroom event is about as smooth as you would want a concert to be. The deejay that warms you up plays classic rap, rock, funk, soul and R & B. The Roots don’t play that diva shit and they get to business early. Black Thought warms up his vocal chords while the band flexes its musical muscles in the early minutes. Buckle your seatbelts because the spaceship is about to take off. The Roots are similar to the crew of the starship Enterprise. Maybe that is why they call the lead guitar Captain Kirk.
Captain Kirk and Corey Glover from Living Colour
Every Roots stan (El Gringo?) wet dream.
Black Thought, Dice Raw, Truck North and Wale.
