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

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 ...

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 are an English rock band formed in London in 1985. They are best known for their debut album ''Broadcast'' and hit single, " (I Just) Died in Your Arms". History 1985–1986: Formation While still in his teens, Nick Van Eede (b ...

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, Go West,

Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo i ...

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Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

, Foreigner,

Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, memoirist, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation" (No. 13), " The Right Thin ...

and

Clannad Clannad () is an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal by siblings Ciarán, Pól, and Moya Brennan and their twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan. They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history, including ...

. 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 worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

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 lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...

. More recently he has worked with Box of Frogs, Simple Minds, Annie Lennox (the Grammy winning arrangement of '' Walking on Broken Glass''),

Zucchero Adelmo Fornaciari (; born 25 September 1955), more commonly known by his stage name Zucchero Fornaciari or simply Zucchero (), is an Italian singer, musician and songwriter. His stage name is the Italian word for "sugar", as his elementary teach ...

Simon Nicol Simon John Breckenridge Nicol (born 13 October 1950) is an English guitarist, singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He was a founding member of British folk rock group Fairport Convention and is the only founding member still in the ...

, Peter Cox,

Heather Small Heather Margarita Small (born 20 January 1965) is a British soul singer and former lead vocalist of the band M People. Her subsequent debut solo studio album, ''Proud'', was released in 2000. Career 1987–1998: Hot House and M People Small ...

Dido Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in modern Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (t ...

, Sophie B. Hawkins,

Andy Leek Andy Leek (born 1958) is a singer/songwriter, poet and musician, known for his work with Dexys Midnight Runners and Sir George Martin. He is an original member of Dexys Midnight Runners and played on the number one single "Geno". He has also wri ...

Beverley Knight Beverley Knight (born Beverley Anne Smith, 22 March 1973) is an English recording artist and musical theatre actress. She released her first album, '' The B-Funk'', in 1995. Heavily influenced by American soul music icons such as Sam Cooke an ...

Hanne Boel Hanne Boel (born 31 August 1957 in Bagsværd, Copenhagen) is a Danish singer. Boel covers in her songs a range of styles including pop, soul, gospel, rock, and jazz. Over the course of her career, she has sold over 2.5 million records, and has ...

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...

Mark Owen Mark Owen (born 27 January 1972) is an English singer and songwriter best known for being a member of pop group and band Take That; as of 2019, the group have sold 14 million albums and 11.4 million singles in the UK. In Owen's solo career, he ...

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, Melanie C,

Nate James Nathaniel James Speas, known as Nate James, (born 15 September 1979 in Lakenheath, Suffolk, England) is an English singer-songwriter. James released his debut soul album '' Set the Tone'' in 2005 which won him two MOBO Nominations for Best Newc ...

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(most notably on the album ''

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'')

Laura Critchley Laura Critchley (born 27 March 1984) is an English singer and songwriter. Biography Laura Critchley was born in Little Sutton, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. With a voice described as that from a love child of Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks, Critc ...

Peter Heppner Peter Heppner (born 7 September 1967 in Hamburg) is the former lead singer of the German electronica/synth pop band Wolfsheim, and has collaborated with many other electronic music acts, such as Paul van Dyk, Schiller, and Goethes Erben. Caree ...

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

*''

'' (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

*''

'' (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