For one night every week the Roots crew from Philadelphia takes over NYC. They invite some of their friends and people they barely even know to grace the stage with them at the Highline Ballroom. The Roots Jam Session is only $10 and there is nowhere else in New York that you can get this level of artistry for that small amount of money.
Every night that I have attended the Jam Session I have been delighted with the remarkable talent that has made the Roots the pre-eminent ambassadors of my generation’s music. They specialize in rap, rock, rhythm and blues, reggae, punk, funk, ska, and almost anything else you might care to listen to. The Roots are led by the sonic dichotomy of thunder and lightning, the sounds of the drum and the voice.
Questlove and Black Thought might be the most important duo in all of music, not just rap music. Every performance is an adventure in time management and teamwork. While Questlove controls the groove Black Thought commands the microphone. Artists enter and exit the stage all the while and the beat never stops. The Jam Sesssion is a fanboys dream because you never know which artist will show up and who will have the energy and the enthusiasm to match the dynamism of Quest and Thought.
I haven’t been disappointed yet.
Black Thought is the ringleader
The Roots lets Torae zone out.
Juice crew veteran Craig G blesses the microphone.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrel
Franz from Duck Down is so focused.
Dice spits that Raw shit
Truck North uses his rhymes to illuminate.
My favorite pic of the set. I’ll admit to being a slave to a page in Black Thought’s rhymebook.
