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.