Guitarist and composer Werner Tian Fischer grew up at the foot of the Swiss Alps a little while before video killed the radio star. Instigated by the great popular music of the late 1960s and 1970s, he took up the guitar autodidactically at an early age, playing in various bands throughout his teens. He further honed his craft at the Hot Clube de Portugal in Lisbon and the Swiss Jazz School in Berne before cofounding the acclaimed folk-pop-group STARFISH in the early 1990s.
To widen his jazzy horizon, Fischer spent the first years of the new millennium in Boston, studying at the Berklee College of Music.
Upon his return, Fischer worked with Swiss jazz greats like Bruno Spoerri or Heiri Känzig, initiated the guitar duo ALL STANDARD GUITARS, the FISCHER-WICKIHALDER JAZZ COALITION, the transatlantic octet SAM TRUEMPY MEMORIAL and most importantly, his jazz unit TRAVELOGUE. From 2008 until 2012, he was also a member of the Mya Audrey Trio.
His jazzy chops and artful sense of style, combined with an unshakable taste for musical adventure, quickly established him as an exciting and original guitarist: "Guitarist Werner Fischer demonstrated his skills in the field of background soundscapes. He often created these with sustained notes or briefly played motives and let them - sometimes like broken-off sentences - lie beautifully in the room and fade away gently. As a result, light yet powerful moods were left behind. His solos impressed with their distinctive dynamics and constructional creativity." (Marcel Hegetschweiler, Zürichsee-Zeitung).
In the early 2010s, he resided as house guitarist at the legendary CD Blues Café in Beijing and regularly performed with the Big John Blues Band as well as the Beijing Jungle Big Band. He went on tour with TRAVELOGUE in China and Europe - featuring Swedish singer Sophie Dunér and Swiss saxophonist Jürg Wickihalder - to promote their seminal album Chinese Soul. They carried on as a working unit with slightly changed line-ups and released two more albums in recent years: The Light Is On (2016) and Foreclosure (2018).
Between 2004 and 2017, Fischer played over 120 concerts on tours all over China. Among them: Heilongjiang and Beijing in 2004; Beijing Olympic Games in 2008; MIDI Festivals in Beijing and Shanghai in 2011; Beijing International Blues Festival in 2011, 2012, 2013 (with guitarist Shun Kikuta) and 2014; Grammy All Stars in Chengdu in 2013; The Ordos World Music Carnival (Inner Mongolia) and The Xixia Music Festivals in Zhongwei & Yinchuan (Ningxia) in 2014 (with The Big John Blues Band); The Chinese Alliance of Performing Artists' Conference in Beijing in 2017 (with Zhang Ling).
In June 2013, he was part of the international backing band led by Zhang Ling that performed with Diane Schuur, Pattie Austin, Yolanda Adams, Jody Watley, Shawn Colvin, Rodney Crowell, Richard Marx, Leo Sayer, Michael Bolton, Song Zuying, Tan Jing and Lang Lang in the spectacular '2013 Night of Fortune Grammy Superstars' at Chengdu's Olympic Stadium:
"12 very diverse artists. GREAT international band. 48000 people sitting in the pouring rain - a wonderful show! Lots of speeches, toasting, superlatives, and laughter." (Rodney Crowell)
Fischer has played on over forty recording sessions, published several articles and books on the History of Jazz in Switzerland and also 'Chinese Soul', a pop novella based on his Chinese experience. Recently, he produced Lift Me Up, the debut of the promising young Sino-Swiss singer Lil Snowflake and participated on 'Big John' Zhang Ling's two most recent productions.
He currently teaches Guitar and Ensemble at Musikschule der Stadt Luzern and holds lectures on the History of Jazz for Pro Senectute Luzern.
Fischer achieves his warm and sensual trademark sound by playing his Gibson L5 Wes Montgomery guitar with the aid of a pick made of achat, a semi-precious stone.
His playing is influenced by Wes Montgomery, Philip Catherine and John Scofield on the jazzy; Albert King, Cornell Dupree and Eric Clapton on the gutsier, bluesy side.
