Peter-John Vettese
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Peter-John Vettese (born 15 August 1956 in Scotland), also known as Peter Vettese, is a Scottish keyboardist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. Vettese is perhaps best known for being the keyboardist for
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
band Jethro Tull for most of the 1980s.


Early life

Peter Vettese grew up in a musical family in
Brechin Brechin (; gd, Breichin) is a city 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-Reformation Roman Catholic diocese (which continues today ...
, 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. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...
'', which turned out to be from the
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
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 on 10 April 1982. The album is a cross between the dominant synthesizer sound of the 1980s and the folk-influenced style that Jethro Tull used in th ...
'', and toured with the band extensively for the next couple of years, appearing on the album ''
Live at Hammersmith '84 ''Live at Hammersmith '84'' is a live album by Jethro Tull, recorded on Sunday 9 September 1984 at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. It was the fourth release in an official series of similar, radio-archive releases by several bands (see Ra ...
''. 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 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, an electronic derivative of keyboard instruments. Electronic keyboards include synthesizers, digital pianos, stage pianos, electronic organs an ...
s.


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
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. In 1987, he fulfilled a boyhood dream to play with
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as a session musician, but he later turned down an offer to become a member of McCartney's re-formed band
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(most notably on the album ''
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'')
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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: Places * Spark Point, a rocky point in the South Shetland Islands People * Spark (surname) * ...
. Vettese is currently signed to Kobalt Music and has his own recording studio in
Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batter ...
where he also writes, produces, and records music for film soundtracks.


Selected discography


With Jethro Tull

*''
The Broadsword and the Beast ''The Broadsword and the Beast'' is the 14th studio album by rock band Jethro Tull, released on 10 April 1982. The album is a cross between the dominant synthesizer sound of the 1980s and the folk-influenced style that Jethro Tull used in th ...
'' (1982) *'' Under Wraps'' (1984) *'' Rock Island'' (1989 - as guest member)


With Ian Anderson

*'' Walk into Light'' (1983)


With Bee Gees

*'' One'' (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 pop group the Bee Gees. It was released on 24 April 2001 by Polydor in the UK and Universal in the US, less than two years before Maurice Gibb died from a cardiac ar ...
'' (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 characters they portray. It has become a popular term on th ...
'' (1991)


With Julian Lennon

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


With Robin Gibb

*''
50 St. Catherine's Drive ''50 St. Catherine's Drive'' is the seventh and final album by singer-songwriter Robin Gibb, released on 29 September 2014 in the United Kingdom and 30 September 2014 in the United States on Rhino Records. The album was named after the address o ...
'' (2014)


References


External links

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