June Jazz again stages free outdoor concerts on Tuesday nights at AC
In the mid-1990s – as gas hovered at $1.20 a gallon, Tickle Me Elmo was all the rage, and the Grateful Dead finally gave up the ghost – Dr. Jim Laughlin rolled a practice piano outdoors and gave birth to June Jazz at Amarillo College.
Almost three decades later, while much has changed, the Washington Street Campus still comes alive like clockwork on Tuesday nights in June for an outdoor concert series now aptly known as The Jim Laughlin June Jazz Series.
The concerts, which are free and open to the public, commence at 7:30 p.m. each Tuesday in June on the Oeschger Family Mall, and the entire community is invited to plop down a blanket and enjoy the show.
"One of my favorite things about June Jazz, besides the fact that it's free, is the community and family atmosphere,” said Laughlin, a veteran professor of music at AC. “Everyone brings blankets, lawn chairs, picnics, and pets. Kids are always playing and dancing, and everyone is welcome to attend.”
This year’s lineup features the following ensembles:
June 4: The 77th Army Band
June 11: Daruma from Denver
June 18: Jim Laughlin and Friends
June 25: Polk Street Jazz
Enhancing the June Jazz experience is the Badger Central Bookstore & Café. Located in the College Union Building (adjacent to the concert venue), the café serves drinks and offers a limited number of food items from its menu.
For those who cannot make it to June Jazz in person, the concerts are aired beginning at 7:30 p.m. on 89.9 FM or kacvfm.org on the Web.
The very first version of June Jazz, Laughlin recollects, amounted to no more than his idea one spring evening in 1995 or 1996 to roll a piano out the door to entertain about a dozen students and friends. That the concept caught on is evidenced by the many hundreds of patrons who now regularly make the scene.
“June Jazz is one of Amarillo’s favorite community gatherings featuring some of our amazing local artists, and some talented special guests” Laughlin said, “and it just never gets old.”