George Clinton, Lenny Kravitz & Gary Clark Jr. Light Up Night 3 Of The Roots Jam Session 2016 In L.A.

Photos by Victoria Ford for Sneakshot + Okayplayer.

The third and final night of the Roots Jam Sessions took place yesterday evening at The Hotel Café in Hollywood, Los Angeles. As the culmination of the 2016 edition of the jam sessions, attendees suspected big acts, and boy did it deliver. Hosted for the second night in a row by Seth Herzog, the night kicked off with a bang as the powerful, soul-drenched vocals of JØ$EPH ignited the room with an electrifying performance of his song, “American Funeral.” Bibi Bourelly brought sass to her set, complete with an appearance with her near-empty shot glass. With her performances of “Ego” and “Sally” she showed a lot of range, and star quality, while remaining super relatable to the audience.

Fedora wearing Bronx-native Tish Hyman brought her A-game and left it all on the stage, performing for a room full of many individuals that were not necessarily hip to her music. Her singing, rapping, and overall positive attitude lit up the room as she performed “Subway Art” and “Four Letter Word”. Yuna experimented with jazzier, chilled-out arrangements of her songs, performing “Lights, Camera” and “Live Your Life” with a full band and horn section. Little Dicky, clad in a abby pink hoodie, brought rap, comedy, and WTF moments to his set of the evening, with “$ave That Money” and “Lemme Freak”. The WTF moment occurred when he brought a lady from the audience onto the stage for his second, and proceeded to give her a lap dance both with, and without pants. Crossing the line much?

The Roots, joined by Jeremy Ellis, smoothed it back out with Dilla beats, giving the room a taste of “Dynamite!”, “ What We Do”, and a vibrant cover of Kool & the Gang’s “Jungle Boogie”. Jeremy Ellis showcased his final evening of bass-heavy beats, and Dipset-anthem worthy productions. Fresh off a plane from the East Coast, and still dressed to the nines was Gary Clark Jr. His guitar heavy tune “When My Train Pulls In” proved to be a crowd favorite, with many attendees pushing towards the stage to get a better glimpse.

Funk was alive and well at the jam session, with none other than George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars rocking the stage for a short, yet memorable set. The Roots and Bilal joined the legend on stage for “Give Up The Funk”

Lenny “Forever Young” Kravitz closed the evening, filling the room with impeccable vocals, and dripping sex appeal all over stage. Clad in a full black leather ensemble paired with a silk shirt, Lenny gave his all, performing “Fly Away”, “Are You Gonna Go My Way”, and “Let Love Rule”. It is quite possible that a few ladies left pregnant by Immaculate Conception. What better way to send off year 10! Check out our gallery for photos of all the action, and get ready to do it all again at the same time next year.

Words by Andrea K. Castillo.