Stowe Jazz Festival

Music for All. No Questions Asked.

STORY BY MATTHEW STECKLER PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF STOWE JAZZ FESTIVAL

A defining 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.”

Petit kept busy in the interim, including meeting his future wife in Stowe, and in 1997 the two left for New York City. Opportunity ultimately morphed an intended three-year NYC stint into seventeen. As he tells it, the couple took seven odd years just to negotiate an exodus, which finally came to fruition in 2016. Ultimately, they decided that Stowe was once again the best choice for a smooth landing. “I always had a lot of love and respect for the local community and how much people support each other,” says Petit. 

Despite that realization, the local festival idea didn’t cross his mind again until four or five months in. As he tells it, George borrowed a bike and pedaled around Stowe to local businesses to gauge interest. Sure enough, he had 49 supporters in just 3 weeks. One location that became the first SJF mainstage locale was microbrewery juggernaut The Alchemist, whose owners Jen and John Kimmich had hosted other artistic endeavors. George notes, “Jen and John just get it. These are exceptional people and hugely supportive of our values.” Another early SJF supporter was Eric Santini, Petit’s first partner and now its board director and production manager. Having locked in a mainstage, and a couple commitments for satellite locations at other local businesses, the festival was up and running. 

The Work Involved 

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? For years, though, long before SJF achieved 501(c) (3) status, Petit was doing nearly all the heavy lifting. Even now, with a board of nine hard-working and generous people, Petit muses, “there’s a lot of stuff that I still do to shepherd the event so it keeps its integrity and it keeps its mission.” He does this out of his own office and recording studio, not some locally rented office space with a different phone number and email address. A lot of that work encompasses artistic direction—curating well over 100 submissions from international and local artists. Petit then delegates certain leadership roles, with an eye/ear toward the future. “At some point I’m not going to be doing this anymore, so it would be great to have a team that does this without my having to herald everything. I’m super fortunate to have the most effective board since we started: they take care of most of the lodging, artist hospitality, and food.” 

In the meantime, volunteerism is a linchpin. Whether it’s high school and college aged kids seeking community service hours, or older folks with a keen interest in seeing the Stowe music scene thrive, an army of 50 (led by volunteer captain and board member Matt Gates) is there to assist with parking, information, or just making sure everything is running smoothly. This type of community engagement orients relative newcomers to the vision of the festival. It also provides education on how symbiotic relationships among some 90 local businesses benefit the whole scene. As performances are fully funded, the resultant economic boost incentivizes business partners to reciprocate— via advertising, lodging, sponsorships, and so forth. 

The funding of the performances and all other SJF expenses happens on multiple levels. In addition to business sponsorships, Petit counts on anonymous angel donors that can contribute larger amounts; he just as readily depends on an ongoing GoFundMe drive, for those who contribute what they can. The result? “Everybody is taking a little bit of ownership of what we’re doing, and that, again, engages the community and keeps us operating.” 

The Music Experience 

Creating a great festival experience for all begins with how the musicians themselves are treated, so I asked George how he views their experience at his festival. Concerning those brought in from out of state: “I would say, honestly, 100% of them bang on my door every year to come back.” First, he attributes this in part to the fact that musicians are paid above market rate, a decision based on knowing that too often the opposite is true. As a result, there are no negotiations— just an earnest attempt to get the funding for what is asked, where possible. Second, the scenic beauty of Stowe is a big draw. That, coupled with a palpable sense of inclusiveness and positivity, are attributes that musicians find attractive. 

Establishing a gold standard, with high quality musicians on the international scale, guides Petit’s approach to contracting regional and local musicians. In his “raise all boats” concept, he asks prospective emerging musicians to put together a set that will complement Grammy-caliber performances on the mainstage. This means avoiding pick-up gigs, or bands that don’t actually gig as bands. In other words, there needs to be a dramatic arc to the set, and the bands need to be well rehearsed. Top-flight, locally based musicians such as Ray Vega, Tom Gershwin, and Paul Asbell understand that expectation, and it has proven over time to be a successful formula to attract other quality acts. 

SJF prides itself on being a festival that comprises 100% jazz. This is on the one hand a broad umbrella term; on the other hand, jazz musicians understand what that means. Far too often festivals will assume the jazz moniker, but offer what really amounts to 40% jazz programming or less. Often, these formats go hand in hand with economic exclusivity— the telltale signs being VIP tickets, roped in areas, and the like. Says Petit, “This VIP concept doesn’t fly with me, because at our festival, there are no VIPs, or everybody is a VIP, you know.” 

In programming music that represents the full scope of jazz— be it swing, bebop, Brazilian, Cuban, gypsy jazz, or modern electric fusion— Petit is championing authenticity, something that shares in common a universal jazz lexicon. In offering all this for free, he’s widening the tent of viewership, exposing people to music they may not encounter every day. In one notable example, a previous attendee who insisted she didn’t enjoy jazz, was convinced that a performance she loved - an organ trio led by guitarist Ed Cherry - wasn’t actually jazz, even though it had real connections to traditions established by Wes Montgomery and Grant Green. 

At times, Petit has programmed his festival intending to make a point. Last year, the entire mainstage program— comprising 15 of a total 35 shows— featured women-led ensembles. Observing that many festivals historically have failed to represent or pay women adequately, the board had no problem supporting this effort toward industry parity. Critically acclaimed acts like Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom, Jen Wharton’s Bonegasm, and Ingrid Jensen proved that making a point doesn’t come at the expense of quality. 

This summer, Petit is bringing back Chico Pinheiro, and new faces to SJF’s mainstage will include Jaleel Shaw, Caroline Davis, Rachel Eckroth, Shayna Steele, Sarah Cabral, and Andrew Gould. All are first rate artists who traverse a wide spectrum of jazz and have deservedly received acclaim for their recent recorded efforts. Judging by the relatively young median age of this sampling, it’s clear Petit is interested in helping usher in the future of jazz. 

Future Plans 

Speaking of the future, when I asked George about a 5 or 10 year plan for Stowe Jazz Festival, he was measured, in a manner consistent with the realities of running an arts non-profit. Some of those realities include very low earnings for an executive director, while still working 12 months out of the year. Or the non-existence of basic office infrastructure. Each fundraising season comes with the potential of falling short and calling it quits. “We never know at the end of our festival if we’re going to make it through another year. We’ve made it through 10 years; to say, ‘by the skin of our teeth,’ would be an understatement.” He thinks there exist angel donors who could make SJF solvent, and better able to expand to include more full-time staff. He continued, “In five years, I might not be involved with this anymore, but I want it to keep going. It must keep going because the work it does is so valuable, and I’m obviously passionate about it.” 

By most indicators, the health of the jazz scene globally is quite optimistic. More young people are learning to play at a high level than ever before. This is true in Stowe as well, though as Petit observes, “I think that it’s healthy up here, but by virtue of the fact that we’re not a huge populace and there’s not a lot of venues to play jazz, we could do better.” Sustained growth of the local jazz scene would be a worthwhile goal. If enough communities take notice, SJF could be an independent festival model worth replicating. 

If all communities have distinct defining characteristics, for Stowe those include a tourist economy drawing on its surrounding natural landscape. It also includes community events and festivals that celebrate what the area produces. Thanks to George Walker Petit, the area now produces jazz in a big way, with an even bigger smile. 

To punctuate that sentiment, he conjures a recent festival memory. One day he happened upon a famous jazz drummer, playing catch with his daughter behind the mainstage. When asked if this is the sort of thing he does at other famous jazz festivals, the drummer replied, “No, other festivals don’t have a vibe like this.” But seeing families out playing ball and running with their dogs, it just felt right. Says Petit, “That is, as far as I’m concerned, a signal that our mission has been accomplished.”

Stowe Jazz Festival 2026 happens August 14-16. 

More info at: stowejazzfestival.org