THE ROOTS TO HOST 3rd ANNUAL JAM SESSION
The legendary hip-hop band is again calling all vocalists, musicians and aspiring artists to take part in 5-hour jam session on February 7 at Hollywood’s Key Club; Hosted by Black Thought, Dave Chappelle, and Don Cheadle.


LOS ANGELES (January 30, 2006) Next week, as the entire music industry descends upon Los Angeles for Grammy week, The Roots—named one of the "20 greatest live acts in the world” in a 2003 Rolling Stone readers’ poll— will host their third annual Jam Session, co-hosted by Black Thought, Dave Chappelle, and Don Cheadle in association with LIVE FOR DARFUR. The event is presented by Dave Chappelle’s Block Party, in theaters March 3rd.

The private, invitation-only event, will feature a live five-hour jam session with rotating special guests, taking place at the Key Club, 9039 W. Sunset Blvd., in West Hollywood, Calif., on Tuesday, Feb. 7th at 10p.m. The event will again be produced by Okayplayer.com, Goodtime Girl Productions and Keldof Productions.

The Roots held their first pre-Grammy party in 2003 as an alternative to the more business oriented Grammy parties. The jam session offers the large core of musicians and executives a chance to entertain and be entertained. As with jam sessions, the emphasis will be on the freedom of expression sparked with the energy of live musical support from The Roots. Past attendants and performers include Norah Jones, Tom Cruise, Common, Alicia Keys, Sharon Stone, Sanaa Lathan, Musiq, Martin Luther, Wood Harris, Anthony Hamilton, Omar Epps, Mos Def, Fiona Apple, Jon Brion, Faith Evans, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, Musiq, Aisha Tyler, and Jada Pinkett-Smith.

"Most industry parties are a little too stuffy and are limited to performances by one or two artists. We created this event in order to put the focus back on the music and give major artists as well as new talent a chance to take part in a business and musical exchange," says The Roots founder and drummer Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson.

This year’s anticipated guest list boasts Def Jam Recordings president and CEO Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, Island Def Jam Music Group chairman LA Reid, Common, Erykah Badu, Incubus, 311, Jeremy Piven, John Legend, Ben Harper, Martin Luther, Bill Maher, Van Hunt, Nikka Costa, Will Smith, Mos Def, Will.I.Am, Spike Lee, Talib Kweli, Dave Navarro, Kelis, Kanye West, Floetry, and more...

Dave Chappelle's Block Party, directed by Oscar winner Michel Gondry, captures exclusive performances and crowd excitement during a once-in-a-lifetime free block party in a Brooklyn neighborhood. The day-long, life-affirming celebration of music and comedy, and history and community, featured all-new freestyle standup material by Dave Chappelle. With all concert music arranged and produced by The Roots' Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, The Roots performed and also provided musical backing for an incredible lineup including Kanye West, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common, Dead Prez, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, and -- reunited for their first performance in over seven years -- The Fugees. Rogue Pictures releases Dave Chappelle's Block Party in theaters nationwide on March 3rd.

LIVE FOR DARFUR is a worldwide awareness campaign co-chaired by Don Cheadle and Djimon Hounsou that rallies high-profile talent, including Coldplay, Carlos Santana, Destiny’s Child, Norah Jones, Annie Lennox, and other top artists to help raise awareness of the crisis in the Darfur region of the Sudan. LIVE FOR DARFUR's participation in the event is produced by Red Carpet Media Partners for the 501(c)3 non-profit Save Darfur Coalition. To learn more, visit www.savedarfur.org.

The Roots are: Black Thought (MC), ?uestlove (MD), Lenoard "Hub" Hubbard (bass) and Kamal Gray (keyboards). Support musicians include Frankie Knuckles (percussion, Kanye West, D’Angelo), and world renowned Captain Kirk (guitar).