The party didn’t stop after headliner Laundry Day finished its Summer Sendoff performance this past Friday. Right after the main event ended, the Horn Gallery’s fourth annual Jam Jam kicked off. The eclectic concert allowed students to unwind to jazz music following Laundry Day’s high-energy performance. Some students crowded inside to bob and groove along to the jam session in front of the Horn’s window, while others sat outside on the grass, catching up with their friends as the music poured out onto the lawn. Different musicians tagged in and out throughout the night, giving the jam-goers the chance to experience a range of sounds and musical savvy from the 25 featured student artists, including bandleader Kat Skillings ’27.

Jam Jam is one of Kenyon’s most unique end-of-year traditions: a communal musical performance showcasing the improvisational talents of campus jazz musicians. As the songs played, each performer found their place in the larger piece, collaborating with the many other artists alongside them. Each instrumentalist had their own part to play in creating the sometimes smooth, sometimes funky sounds that emanated from the Horn Gallery. Instruments ranged from guitars and bass to bongos and saxophones. One of the bassists, Finn Alexander ’26, stated in an interview with the Collegian, “It’s so much community right after Sendoff, just coming and jamming so many instruments.” 

Preparation for Jam Jam differed from a typical band rehearsal. “We rehearse song by song, not as a full band. … The first time [the band hears] a lot of the songs performed is the night of. … It’s so beautiful to see how every single one comes together on the day of the show,” explained Horn Gallery General Manager Ivy Tollefsen ’28 in an email to the Collegian. In the days leading up to Jam Jam, artists rehearse each song separately, so that musicians who aren’t in specific songs don’t hear them until Jam Jam. Each collaborator was on stage for certain parts of the night, giving the audience a varied, changing musical experience throughout the approximately two-hour performance. At one moment, a more energetic funky beat began to play, leading audience members both inside the Horn and on the grass outside to dance along.

The crowd came together amid the different styles of music, gathering to dance the night away. A mix of pre-show rehearsal and improvisation further added to the laid-back yet engaging ambiance of the evening. “It’s just the epitome of the Horn,” Alexander stated. All 25 musicians were led by Skillings, who ran the rehearsals and organized the music.

A jazz funk fusion performance was the perfect way to celebrate the end of the 2025-26 school year. Organized and chaotic, the event emphasized working together and expressing individuality. The audience left the Horn relaxed, ready to end an incredible night or with a second wind, prepared for even more music and revelry. As the name of the event might suggest, the audience never stopped jamming to the music. Everyone ended up clapping to the beat and singing along, which made the experience not only collaborative among the performers onstage but also for every single person in attendance.