Peter-John Vettese (born 15 August 1956), also known as Peter Vettese, is a Scottish keyboardist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. Vettese was the keyboardist for

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

band Jethro Tull for most of the 1980s.

Early life

Peter Vettese grew up in a musical family in

Brechin Brechin (; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. Traditionally Brechin was described as a city because of its cathedral and its status as the seat of a pre-Scottish Reformation, Reformation Roman Catholic diocese (which contin ...

, Angus, Scotland. He began his music studies with piano lessons at the age of 4. At 9, he began playing in public with his father's band. He left home at 17 to join one of the UK's biggest dance hall Big Bands, but was fired for rehearsing in company time with his own group. He then formed the jazz fusion group Solaris with guitarist Jim Condie, and toured Scotland and the US. He was playing in pubs and clubs in Scotland when he saw an advertisement for keyboard players in the music newspaper ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'', which turned out to be from the

band Jethro Tull.

Jethro Tull

Vettese joined Jethro Tull in 1982 for the recording of their album ''

The Broadsword and the Beast ''The Broadsword and the Beast'' is the 14th studio album by rock band Jethro Tull, released in April 1982 by Chrysalis Records. The album's musical style features a cross between the dominant synthesizer sound of the 1980s and the folk-influ ...

'', and toured with the band extensively for the next couple of years, appearing on the album '' Live at Hammersmith '84''. Vettese made significant contributions to Tull's heavily electronic album '' Under Wraps'', (1984) toured with them again in 1986, and recorded as a guest musician on '' Rock Island'' (1989). Vettese also collaborated with Tull's frontman

Ian Anderson Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician best known for being the chief vocalist, Flute, flautist, and acoustic guitarist of the British rock band Jethro Tull (band), Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist who also p ...

on Anderson's 1983 solo album, '' Walk into Light''. Vettese co-wrote half the songs on the album, which is notable for his innovative contributions on

electronic keyboard An electronic keyboard, portable keyboard, or digital keyboard is an electronic musical instrument based on keyboard instruments. Electronic keyboards include synthesizers, digital pianos, stage pianos, electronic organs and digital audio work ...

Later career

Vettese began an independent career as a songwriter, arranger and producer. In the 1980s he worked with and produced a diverse range of artists including

Cutting Crew Cutting Crew is an English rock band formed in London in 1985. They are best known for their debut studio album ''Broadcast'' (1986) and their UK Top 40 hit singles, "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" and " I've Been in Love Before". History 1985� ...

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, Go West,

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, Foreigner,

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and

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. In 1987, he fulfilled a boyhood dream to play with

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

as a session musician, but he later turned down an offer to become a member of McCartney's re-formed band

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the bene ...

. More recently he has worked with Box of Frogs,

Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977, becoming best known internationally for their song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100 ...

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(the Grammy winning arrangement of "

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"),

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, Peter Cox,

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, Sophie B. Hawkins,

Andy Leek Andy Leek (1958 – 3 November 2024) was an English singer, songwriter, poet and musician, known for his work with Dexys Midnight Runners and Sir George Martin. He was an original member of Dexys Midnight Runners and played on the number one si ...

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, Alex Parks,

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(most notably on the album '' 50 St. Catherine's Drive'')

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, Peter Heppner and

Spark Spark commonly refers to: * Spark (fire), a small glowing particle or ember * Electric spark, a form of electrical discharge Spark may also refer to: People * Spark (surname) * Jessica Morgan (born 1992; formerly known as Spark), female singe ...

. Vettese is currently signed to Kobalt Music and has his own recording studio in

Battersea Battersea is a large district in southwest London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and also extends along the south bank of the Thames Tideway. It includes the Battersea Park. Hist ...

where he also writes, produces, and records music for film soundtracks.

Selected discography

With Jethro Tull

*''

'' (1982) *'' Under Wraps'' (1984) *''

A Classic Case ''A Classic Case'' (1985) is an album by Jethro Tull, playing with the London Symphony Orchestra, released in 1985. The music was arranged and conducted by Dee Palmer, who had collaborated with the band from 1968 and had been a full band mem ...

'' (1985) *'' Rock Island'' (1989 - as guest member)

With Ian Anderson

*'' Walk into Light'' (1983)

With Bee Gees

*''

One 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

'' (1989) *'' Still Waters'' (1997) *''

This Is Where I Came In ''This Is Where I Came In'' is the twenty-second and final studio album by the Bee Gees. It was released on 2 April 2001 by Polydor Records, Polydor in the UK and Universal Records, Universal in the US, less than two years before Maurice Gibb d ...

'' (2001)

With Simple Minds

*''

Real Life Real life is a phrase used originally in literature to distinguish between the real world and fictional, virtual or idealized worlds, and in acting to distinguish between actors and the Character (arts), characters they portray. It has become a ...

'' (1991)

With Julian Lennon

*'' Everything Changes'' (2011) *'' Jude'' (2022)

With Robin Gibb

*'' 50 St. Catherine's Drive'' (2014)

References

External links

*
Biography on official Jethro Tull site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vettese, Peter-John 1956 births Living people Jethro Tull (band) members People from Brechin Progressive rock keyboardists Scottish keyboardists Scottish male songwriters Scottish people of Italian descent Scottish record producers