Jean-Marie Peterken

Jean-Marie Peterken was a Belgian journalist and concert organiser (President of the Hot Club de Liège, from 1947). He was one of the five partners who in 1959 launched the legendary International Jazz Festival of Comblain-la-Tour. In 1956, along with Nicolas Dor, he launched on Radio-Liège (INR then RTBF) the famous program "Jazz Pour Tous". In 1971, he tried to repeat the success of Comblain by launching the Halles des Foires in Coronmeuse (Liège). Despite the presence of stars like Gato Barbieri and Les McCann, it was a failure. In 1991, he successfully launched another festival at the Palais des Congrès: Jazz à Liège. He began as a sports journalist, later serving as Director of Regional Information, and ended his professional career in 1993 as Director of the Liège branch of RTBF. Some of his achievements included organising a benefit concert to repatriate the body of Bobby Jaspar in 1963, and the “Brique de la solidarité” operation to help the victims of the earthquake from Liège in 1983. In retirement, he managed to save a large part of the radio jazz collections by creating with Jean-Pol Schroeder in 1995 the Maison du Jazz de Liège.