Jay-Z plots brief "Gangster" tour

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Jay-Z will launch a rare concert tour next month, playing five club shows to promote his upcoming album, "American Gangster."

The Def Jam Records president will begin the trek at Los Angeles' House House of Blues on November 6, the same day the album goes on sale. It wraps November 12 at the Fillmore in Philadelphia.

During the shows, Jay-Z will perform only material from the new album, which is inspired by -- but not directly affiliated with -- the new Denzel Washington-Russell Crowe crime drama of the same name. It opens in theaters on November 2.

Jay-Z has made sporadic live appearances in the past few years, most recently during the Screamfest tour's New York stop. Last year, he held court at New York's Radio City Music Hall to celebrate the 10-year-anniversary of his debut, "Reasonable Doubt."

The other stops on his upcoming tour are Chicago (House of Blues, November 7), Baltimore (Ram's Head, November 9) and New York (Hammerstein Ballroom, November 11).

Reuters/Billboard