Lauryn Hill will make her first public performances in two years as part of the Kool Nu Jazz Festival, a series of concerts that will travel to four cities this fall. Hill, whose latest album was 2002's MTV Unplugged No. 2.0, will headline shows in Chicago and Atlanta. Hill assembled a new band for the tour and is expected to perform some new material. Other performers include Erykah Badu, the Roots, Jill Scott, Twista, Ruben Studdard, George Clinton and OutKast's Big Boi.

The Kool Nu Jazz Festival, sponsored by Kool cigarettes, will hit Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Detroit, pairing high-profile hip-hop and R&B artists for co-headlining shows in small venues. The festival's namesake comes from the now-defunct Kool Jazz Festival of the Seventies and Eighties, which featured the likes of Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald.

Tickets for each show can be purchased individually through Ticketmaster. Shows are priced at $35 (though tickets for performances at Atlanta's Earthlink Live are $25).

Kool Nu Jazz Festival dates:

Chicago:

9/15: George Clinton, Javier (House of Blues)
9/16: The Roots, Common (House of Blues)
9/17: Erykah Badu, Nina Sky (Congress Theater)
9/18: De La Soul, TBA (Congress Theater)
9/19: Lauryn Hill, LYFE (Congress Theater)
9/23: Chaka Kahn, Slum Village (Congress Theater)
9/24: Jill Scott, Floetry (Congress Theater

Philadelphia:

9/29: Ruben Studdard, Kindred (Trocadero)
9/30: The Roots, Common (Trocadero)
10/1: Twista, Calvin Richardson (Electric Factory)
10/2: Erykah Badu, Big Boi (Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City)

Atlanta:

10/18: The Roots, Common (Earthlink Live)
10/19: De La Soul, Slum Village (Earthlink Live)
10/20: Ruben Studdard, Rhian Benson (Earthlink Live)
10/21: Calvin Richardson, Javier (Earthlink Live)
10/22: Erykah Badu, Twista, Nina Sky (Dekalb Civic Center)
10/23: Jill Scott, Floetry (Dekalb Civic Center)
10/25: Monica, Kevin Lyttle (Earthlink Live)
10/26: Jurassic 5, Amel Larrieux (Earthlink Live)
10/27: Arrested Development, Cali-Comm (Earthlink Live)
10/28: George Clinton, LYFE (Earthlink Live)
10/29: Chaka Kahn, Kindred (Dekalb Civic Center)
10/30: Lauryn Hill, Musiq (Dekalb Civic Center)

Detroit:

11/10: Calvin Richardson, Rhian Benson (St. Andrews Hall)
11/11: The Roots, Common (St. Andrews Hall)
11/12: Jill Scott, Floetry (Masonic Temple)
11/13: Erykah Badu, Twista (Masonic Temple)

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