Peter-John Vettese

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Peter-John Vettese
Birth namePeter-John Vettese
Also known asPeter Vettese
Born (1956-08-15) 15 August 1956 (age 68)
Scotland
Genres Progressive rock, pop
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter, arranger, producer
InstrumentKeyboards
Years active1965–present
LabelsKobalt Music
Formerly of Jethro Tull
Website peterjohnvettese.co.uk

Peter-John Vettese (born 15 August 1956 [1] ), also known as Peter Vettese, is a Scottish keyboardist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. Vettese was the keyboardist for progressive rock band Jethro Tull for most of the 1980s.

Contents

Early life

Peter Vettese grew up in a musical family in Brechin, 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 , which turned out to be from the progressive rock band Jethro Tull. [2]

Jethro Tull

Vettese joined Jethro Tull in 1982 for the recording of their album The Broadsword and the Beast , [1] [3] [4] and toured with the band extensively for the next couple of years, [5] [6] appearing on the album Live at Hammersmith '84 . Vettese made significant contributions to Tull's heavily electronic album Under Wraps , (1984) [1] toured with them again in 1986, and recorded as a guest musician on Rock Island (1989). [2]

Vettese also collaborated with Tull's frontman Ian Anderson on Anderson's 1983 solo album, Walk into Light . [1] [4] [7] [8] Vettese co-wrote half the songs on the album, which is notable for his innovative contributions on electronic keyboards. [2] [7] [8]

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, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Go West, Pet Shop Boys, Bee Gees, Cher, Foreigner, Carly Simon and Clannad. In 1987, he fulfilled a boyhood dream to play with Paul McCartney as a session musician, but he later turned down an offer to become a member of McCartney's re-formed band Wings. [2]

More recently he has worked with Box of Frogs, Simple Minds, Annie Lennox (the Grammy winning arrangement of "Walking on Broken Glass"), Zucchero, Simon Nicol, Peter Cox, Heather Small, Dido, Sophie B. Hawkins, Andy Leek, Beverley Knight, Hanne Boel, Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Geri Halliwell, Melanie C, Nate James, Alex Parks, Darren Hayes, Robin Gibb (most notably on the album 50 St. Catherine's Drive ) Laura Critchley, Peter Heppner and Spark. [9]

Vettese is currently signed to Kobalt Music [10] and has his own recording studio in Battersea where he also writes, produces, and records music for film soundtracks.

Selected discography

With Jethro Tull

With Ian Anderson

With Bee Gees

With Simple Minds

With Julian Lennon

With Robin Gibb

Related Research Articles

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Jethro Tull are a British rock band formed in Blackpool, Lancashire in 1967. Initially playing blues rock and jazz fusion, the band soon incorporated elements of English folk music, hard rock and classical music, forging a signature progressive rock sound. The group's founder, bandleader, principal composer, lead vocalist, and only constant member is Ian Anderson, who also plays flute and acoustic guitar. The group has featured a succession of musicians throughout the decades, including significant contributors such as guitarists Mick Abrahams and Martin Barre ; bassists Glenn Cornick, Jeffrey Hammond, John Glascock, Dave Pegg, Jonathan Noyce, and David Goodier; drummers Clive Bunker, Barrie "Barriemore" Barlow and Doane Perry; and keyboardists John Evan, Dee Palmer, Peter-John Vettese, Andrew Giddings, and John O'Hara.

<i>Thick as a Brick</i> 1972 studio album by Jethro Tull

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Anderson</span> Scottish musician, leader of Jethro Tull

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<i>Roots to Branches</i> 1995 studio album by Jethro Tull

Roots to Branches is the 19th studio album by the British band Jethro Tull released in September 1995. It carries characteristics of Tull's classic 1970s progressive rock and folk rock roots alongside jazz and Arabic and Indian influences. All songs were written by Ian Anderson and recorded at his home studio. This is the last Tull album to feature Dave Pegg on the bass, and the first to feature keyboardist Andrew Giddings as an official band member, although he had contributed to Catfish Rising (1991) on a sessional basis. As a result, the album notably features the five longest serving members to date in Jethro Tull’s history. It was also the final Tull album to be released through long-time label Chrysalis Records.

<i>Stormwatch</i> (album) 1979 studio album by Jethro Tull

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<i>Under Wraps</i> (Jethro Tull album) 1984 studio album by Jethro Tull

Under Wraps is the 15th studio album by the band Jethro Tull, released in 1984. The songs' subject matter is heavily influenced by bandleader Ian Anderson's love of espionage fiction. It was controversial among fans of the band due to its electronic/synthesizer-based sound, particularly the use of electronic drums. Dave Pegg has been quoted as saying that the tracks cut from the sessions for Broadsword and the Beast would have made a better album, while Martin Barre has referred to it as one of his personal favourite Tull albums. The album reached No. 76 on the Billboard 200 and No. 18 on the UK Albums Chart. The single "Lap of Luxury" reached No. 30.

<i>The Broadsword and the Beast</i> 1982 studio album by Jethro Tull

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-influenced style that Jethro Tull used in the previous decade. As such, the band's characteristic acoustic instrumentation is augmented by electronic soundscapes. The electronic aspects of this album would be explored further by the band on their next album, Under Wraps (1984), as well as on Ian Anderson's solo album Walk into Light (1983).

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Peter Vettese". The Official Jethro Tull Website. Archived from the original on 31 August 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Salmond, Catherine (4 August 2010). "Almost 30 years after his musical adventure began in an Edinburgh bar, tonight Peter Vettese squares the circle with a Capital gig". The Scotsman .
  3. ↑ "Peter-John Vettese – Biography". Allmusic . Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  4. 1 2 "Jethro Tull – Biography". Allmusic . Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  5. ↑ "There's More To Jethro Tull Than Ian Anderson". Pittsburgh Press. 23 October 1984. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  6. ↑ "Jethro Tull Delights Loyal, But Few, Fans". Pittsburgh Press. 1 November 1984. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  7. 1 2 "Ground and Sky review – Ian Anderson – Walk into Light". Ground and Sky. 28 December 2003. Archived from the original on 5 January 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  8. 1 2 "Ian Anderson – Walk into Light reviews". Progarchives. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  9. ↑ "Keyboard star returns to festival to bury demons". The Herald . Scotland. 2 August 2010.
  10. ↑ "Kobalt: Music Publishing for the 21st Century – Songwriters". Kobalt Music. Archived from the original on 24 September 2010. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
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