Peter Kowald was born April 21, 1944, in Masserberg, Germany, and became a vital figure in German free jazz, playing for many years with the Globe Unity Orchestra and the Schlippenbach Quartet, and closely with saxophonist Peter Brötzmann. His career took him through extended periods living in Greece, Japan, and New York.

Kowald collaborated with a wide range of European and American free-jazz and free-improvisation players, including Irène Schweizer, Karl Berger, Fred Anderson, Hamid Drake, whose own career is covered in full in his JazzProfiles.com profile, Wadada Leo Smith, Günter Sommer, William Parker, whose own career is covered in full in his JazzProfiles.com profile, Barre Phillips, Joëlle Léandre, Lauren Newton, and Evan Parker. He recorded a number of acclaimed solo double-bass albums, most notably Was Da Ist (What There Is), and was a member of the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra until 1985. He also recorded pioneering double-bass duets with Maarten Altena, Barry Guy, Joëlle Léandre, Barre Phillips, William Parker, Damon Smith, and Peter Jacquemyn.

Kowald died September 21, 2002, in New York City, of a heart attack, at age 58, at the Brooklyn home of William Parker and Patricia Nicholson, immediately after playing a concert in Williamsburg with Masahiko Kono, Tatsuya Nakatani, and Kazuhisa Uchihashi.

Kowald's standing as one of the world's top improvisational bassists, built across decades of solo recordings, duet partnerships, and ensemble work spanning Germany, Japan, and New York, made him one of the central connective figures linking the European and American free-jazz communities.