Fred Woodard Collective to Perform at Jazz at the Fort

Berklee College of Music and the Boston Parks and Recreation Department's ParkARTS Citywide Neighborhood Concert Series presents the Fred Woodard Collective at the annual Jazz at the Fort concert on Sunday, August 4, at 5:00 p.m. The free performance takes place at Highland Park in Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Fred Woodard '83 has been entertaining audiences for more than 30 years. The guitarist, who studied jazz composition and arranging at Berklee, describes his band’s sound as “straight-ahead jazz spiced with R&B.” Since 1988, Woodard has led a variety of jazz groups; performed with numerous jazz, R&B, and reggae bands; and played at the Newton Jazz Festival, Burlington Discover Jazz Festival, Iowa City Jazz Festival, and the Dudley Jazz Festival, which he founded in 2016. He has also performed with classic R&B artists such as Sam & Dave, the Drifters, and the Marvelettes. Woodard established his own label, Ujam Records, in 1997, and has released three albums: Arrival, 1715, and Urban Garden. 

Woodard is also an educator who shares his love of his craft as a teacher with students at the Roland Hayes School of Music in Roxbury. "It gives me the opportunity to rethink my approach to my instrument,” said Woodard. “I also get a chance to reach people who wouldn't otherwise get a chance to learn how to play an instrument."

Jazz at the Fort is part of Berklee's Summer in the City concert series, which features more than 400 performances by Berklee students, alumni, and faculty in neighborhoods in and around Boston. The ParkARTS Citywide Neighborhood Concert Series is made possible by Berklee and Bank of America.

Entrances to Highland Park are on Fort Avenue or at 58 Beech Glen Street in Roxbury. The park is wheelchair accessible. Parking is available at Columbus Avenue and Cedar Street in the Roxbury Community College lot. The park is also a short walk from the MBTA Roxbury Crossing Station. In the event of rain, the concert will move to First Church in Roxbury, 10 Putnam Street, John Eliot Square. More information is available at berklee.edu/events or by calling 617-747-6057.