Mikey: Despite taking the stage after the date changed, The Legendary Roots Crew pulled off yet another soulful holiday jamboree. The 3rd annual Roots Holiday Jam took place last night at BB Kings in New York City with the cast of Fela and Blitz The Ambassador opening the evening up. After we took an unforgettable express tour of West Africa , the unmistakable afro and pick made their first appearance of the night then one by one following Questlove, The Roots crew came onstage to their rightful positions. As the group found their groove, Black Thought took the mic and was soon joined by special guest Mos Def. With his red mic in hand, Mos played the crowd and ripped “Umi Says” before disappearing backstage. Before I had to call it night Brother Ali came outta nowhere and wow’ed the place with his razor sharp bars (see the video above). These weren’t even half the guests I’m sure, so expect way more footage to be floating around the blogs.

(Check out Blitz The Ambassador after the jump)

Related: Roots Holiday Jam ‘08 with Estelle, 88 Keys, Qtip, Pharoahe Monch and more