MUSIC
Adefining moment for George Walker Petit came back in 2016, the inaugural year of Stowe Jazz Festival( SJF). As Chico Pinheiro’ s band was about to take the main stage, it was dark and just 38 degrees outside … the weekend after Labor Day. A steady drizzle descended upon the throng of spectators on the field, so a decision had to be made. George grabbed the microphone and asked the audience if they’ d take several 10x10 tents and zip-tie them together.“ Let’ s create a tent village, which we had in about 10 minutes, and it covered as many people as remained at the festival, and they’ re all dancing in a mosh pit of mud right in front of the stage. I just looked out and said, you know, this is incredible. We’ re going to have to keep doing this.”
Today SJF is noteworthy as an event that annually brings in first rate musicians from all over the world, at no cost to attend. This is an important piece in Petit’ s wider mission: to increase accessibility of jazz to people of all backgrounds and circumstances.“ Music is kind of the glue of community,” he observes. In making the price no object, people can put aside their differences and experience together a family-friendly occasion, no questions asked. This equalizing effect, muses Petit, is analogous to the ability of all people, irrespective of their ability to pay entry, to appreciate the very same Picasso portrait at the Met.
Origins
That sounds positively utopian- and it is- but attaining it( and the nearly $ 200,000 budget fundraising machine that comes with being a non-profit) didn’ t happen overnight. In fact, the origin story of this festival is as labyrinthine as Petit’ s own history in music. An accomplished guitarist and recording engineer, Petit has produced over 100 international releases, and has himself performed in Carnegie Hall, Broadway musicals, London clubs, and on tours in Europe and Brazil, across several genres. Needless to say, his appetite for music is as substantive as it is diverse. Moreover, he understands jazz as an art form with many layers, worth appreciating for its own sake.
When he first arrived in Stowe in 1987, Petit was on his way to Santa Barbara but wound up staying 11 years(“ I never took the left turn”). He pitched a festival idea to the powers that be in Stowe at that time. As he recounts,“ One of the members present said,‘ Jazz. Oh god, I hate Dixieland,’ at which point I pulled the entire idea.”