Peter Fessler was born in 1959 in Cologne, Germany, and began playing guitar at twelve under the guidance of Rick Abao. He later studied jazz singing at the Musikhochschule in Cologne and performed in New York and San Francisco clubs, where he composed early works. In 1983 he joined the Latin jazz trio Trio Rio, contributing to their 1986 hit "New York–Rio–Tokyo". After a period in the United States writing songs, he returned to Germany and released his debut solo album My Songs in 1991. Subsequent releases followed chronologically: Don’t Tell Me (1993), Footprints (1996), Colours of My Mind (1997), Very Close (1998), Signatures (2000), Blue Summer (2005), Landscape Tapestry (2005), I Concentrate on You (2007, with the NDR Big Band), FLY! (2012), Quality Time (2013, with Don Grusin), and Das mit Dir (2010). During this period he collaborated with artists such as Sheila E., Chaka Khan, Al Jarrare, and Randy Crawford, and performed at festivals including Montreux and in Tokyo. In 2014 he received the ECHO Jazz award for Quality Time in the category Best National Singer. His work remains a contribution to contemporary German jazz.
