They even had an EW&F cover of September that practically blew my phones off. At least they had a patina of coolness to them. Sergey Kashirin was born in 1982 in Tiraspol, Transnistria, in Eastern Europe. He also had to maintain a low musical profile, since until the mid 1970s rock 'n' roll was regarded as a corrupting influence by the powers that be in his homeland. In 2009 Igor launched his own label called Butman Music and he has performed at every Olympic Games starting with Athens in 2004. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. His parents, a musician and kindergarten teacher, realized his affection for music early and at 9 years old his father enrolled him in a school of music and proposed that he should consider the saxophone. That includes sharing and discovering music. Communication with the rest of the band in Russia is severely limited and cautious. After posting it on YouTube for their friends to view the word began to spread, and what was supposed to be a simple act of kindness for his friend, turned into the band Leonid & Friends recording many more songs which have been viewed in over 150 countries at last count. By Scott Schwebke, With multiple sold-out U.S. tours under its belt and hundreds of thousands of fans around the world, Leonid & Friends continues to astound its global audience with its unique ability in capturing the spirit, musicality, and fire of American supergroup Chicago. Konstantin joined Leonid & Friends in 2021 as the lead guitarist. For now, the band is still hoping to launch its tour. When Leonid & Friends isnt touring, band members are in the studio in Moscow immersing themselves in Chicagos storied catalog of hits and deep tracks while preparing for the next tour. "Chicago was unique in that they had three (lead) vocalists. Mere months ago, the band for which he provides vocals was enjoying acclaim won online and solidified in person. Their tour wraps up in Clearwater, Florida with a concert at The Capitol Theater on Jan. 22. In addition, Valerys musical talents and professionalism allowed him to work with numerous Russian pop stars and participate in many individual musical projects in the country. I think that is what is meant by "having it down COLD". Email: info@imediainc.net. Leonid & Friends was created in 2014 by Moscow-based musician Leonid Vorobyev. There wouldnt be anything at all without your love and support! These retailers will take them, Kings eliminated from playoffs after Game 6 loss to Oilers, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. But my roommate Tom Fecker loved them for all the original reasons they had been so compelling in the late 60s and early 70s. Their followers remark that they are strong musicians who look like theyre having an incredibly good time. Thats a trend thats happening worldwide in pop music, said Kashirin when I asked. He paraphrased: He said, We dont need any politicians to find a common language among ourselves. [3] In 2018, songs by Earth, Wind, & Fire, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Tower of Power and The Ides of March were added to the playlist. In 2017, Leonid & Friends recorded a debut album called Chicagovich: To 50th Anniversary of the band Chicago and the following year the band released Chicagovich II.. It is very important for me in life.. Some appeared to be in their 20s, others in their 60s. And he loved horns. She was featured in the Russian TV version of The Voice and has participated in numerous television and festival appearances. In the initial days of the bombardments, the store shelves in the city swiftly emptied, long lines stretched outside of supermarkets and a caravan of cars formed, packed with people grappling to leave the city. Chicago was a land of jazz, rock and pop music, all together.". Although he sings reasonably well in English, Vorobyev, 64, felt more comfortable conversing in Russian for this interview. Thanks for posting, I had not heard of this group, and they're fantastic! I watched this with my audio engineer/producer son a couple of days ago. Leonid & Friends, a group covering songs by the classic American rock band Chicago, will play at the Clyde Theater on Wednesday, Oct. 27. Vorobyev creates transcribes the arrangements by ear, listing to the original tracks, with no other help. He got his friends together, myself and other guys who are session musicians, to record a song from Chicago VIII, Brand New Love Affair. In Leonid & Friends' homeland, the demand for a group performing note-perfect versions of hits and deep album cuts by Chicago equals the demand in the United States to hear American tribute bands playing the music of such top Russian rock and pop acts as Boris Grebenshchikov, Zvuki Mu and Kino. la fitness volleyball court. And they were all smiling large and playing their asses off. Their background of international cooperation, even in the face of cross-border tensions (Russia has ongoing tensions with both Ukraine and Moldova), they said speaks to the power of music to unite people. Hello! ((Photo courtesy of Leonid & Friends)). Along the way Maxim was introduced to the sounds of the American band Chicago from the early albums and he developed a love for the band and their style that is with him to this day. Vorobyev started the what became Leonid & Friends in 2014 as a one-off, specifically to celebrate his 60th birthday recording a version of Chicago's 1975 song, "Brand New Love Affair (Parts I & II)," with Vorobyev on keyboards and lead vocals. They are the best cover band I have seen in person, plus Gary Sinise is a great American. No one even thinks about giving away one inch of our territory, he said. And while Chicago's U.S. album sales number close to 40 million, Russia has never been a major (or even minor) market for the Illinois-bred group, whose next San Diego area performance is Sept. 20 at Harrah's Resort Southern California. He entered the musical institute majoring in trombone and focusing on classical music in preparation for a spot in a symphony orchestra. Same here, in the Phoenix area. Sergey Kurmaev was born in the city of Osh, Kyrgyzstan, in 1980, about 2000 miles southeast of Moscow. JavaScript is disabled. More than 100 firearms taken in during Waukegan gun buyback event; This means fewer funerals, Kam Yearsley follows older brother as Yorkville slugger. Imitation, after all, is the sincerest form of flattery, they say. I love it. In 1990, he was accepted to The Alfred Schnittke Moscow State Institute of Music, where he majored in classical guitar and studied the lute, keyboards, and the ancient harp.After graduating in 1995, Konstantin began performing with popular Russian rock bands and notable musicians, including Leonid & Friends drummer Igor Javad-Zade. He is now focusing on new ventures with TV and movie scores, along with other projects that will also allow him to stay close to the family (as you know he has 2 little boys). the USA who performed in Russia such as Chuck Loeb, Phil Perry, Dave Koz, Eric Marienthal, and Brian Simpson. The band recreates the Chicago sound impeccably, displaying precise musicianship and timing. Maxim Likhachev was born and raised in Moscow where he continues to live today. The Moscow-based choral director and composer concluded that rather than garden or fish full time, he wanted to make more music. Leonid & Friends' quest was made even more quixotic by the fact that neither Vorobyev nor any of his band mates have ever attended a concert by Chicago. He was fascinated, eventually learned many of the songs and was ready to play them when friend Vorobyev had his impetuous idea. In early 2019, the band embarked on its first tour outside of Russia that had fans dancing in the aisles at sold-out shows in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Florida. http://www.leonidandfriends.band/tour.htmlhttps://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/leonid-friends/1190819756https://play.google.com/store/search?q=Leonid%20%26%20F. We never heard anything like that, he said. It was nothing extravagant or fancy. He has worked with many of Russias top bands. https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=BMMNYRNWRRJL4&source=urlhttps://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/leonid-friends/1190819756http. Valery Martynov was born in the city of Tolyatti in 1994. At 12 years old, Konstantin began studying music. Scott Schwebke has been a journalist for more than 30 years and a longtime fan of Chicago dating back to its incarnation as CTA. We hope to see you there! He became an instant fan. Serge Tiagniryadno was born and lives in Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine where he runs the popular recording studio Crystal Sound of which he founded. So when Valery first entered music school, he planned to learn to play guitar like his Father, but when he saw the trumpet for the first time, he quickly forgot everything about his guitar plans and decided to study the trumpet instead. Well, its a great story. However, he credits his highly skilled bandmates for making each tune sing. For those of you who don't know (I'm sure most of you do know), Terry Kath was the original guitarist for Chicago and came up with that guitar part. Russians can face up to 15 years in prison for using the word war or invasion to describe the operations in Ukraine. Sergey is a founder of several musical projects, three of which are Real Bodrit, Rock Band, and Smilinman, a multi-genre project of depth which allows him to stretch his musical and vocal talents. He started by learning well-known melodies and played them for friends and family long before learning to read music.When he was eight years old, he enrolled in the local School of Music to study the accordion. But you still have the jazz and rock musicians who strive to develop their skills, who are exploring both the new and bringing back the old. I was expecting a warm greeting but I didn't expect such a warm reception and with so much love and gratitude for us. Oleg Kudryavtcev was born in Severodvinsk, located on the White Sea coast of the Arkhangelsk region, And while whats left of the original Chicago is a pale facsimile Kath accidentally shot himself to death playing with a handgun while drunk back in 1978, and most of the other band members have moved on, grown old and been replaced Leonid & Friends treats the aged material with the devoted attention of a new love. There was barely even standing room. Meanwhile, the Russian parliament voted in support of the law criminalizing the speaking of news the Kremlin regards as fake. In addition, he was the winner of "The Highest Test" competition and last year, under the stage name BURANOV, represented Russia at the international competition "New Wave." Leonid & Friends is now preparing to make its third album. His "friends" are a mix of talented musicians and singers who have collaborated with Leonid on his project. The band is called Leonid & Friends and they will play Penns Peak in Jim Thorpe at 8 p.m. on Thursday. We all are determined to fight for Kyiv, he said. Turns out Leonid & Friends is a Russian-Ukrainian cover band with impeccable ears and talent. He conducted an online contest for Leonid to find a vocal talent comparable to that of Chicagos Peter Cetera. "I thought the opposite would happen and that we probably would not be well-received by by the American audience.". Thats where Chicago has remained in my consciousness in the four-plus decades since in a corner with train sets and baseball cards and plastic helmet collections. Those musicians almost always were drunk and quite often tried to play with us our rock songs. By chance, an instructor handed him a CD of Chicago half his life ago when he was just 18. The words Fender, Telecaster, Stratocaster and the associated headstock designs are registered trademarks of the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. 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Since then, Sergey has worked and performed with many top musical acts and together with his wife, an excellent singer in her own right, have organized concerts.In 2020, Sergey, his wife, their three sons, and Lucky, their dog, received an early Christmas present. America's favorite tribute band has just released an original composition entitle The Speck of Dust featuring the vocal talents of Ksenia. Although Oleg was interested in every instrument he saw, he agreed with his father and began formal studies. See for yourself here on Chicagos Anthem, 25 or 6 to 4: Official Website here: http://leonidandf.com/, Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/222454091643580/, More Stuff from SFTK and Social MediaLinks, Terrys Guitar Flight/Road Case Techniques, https://www.facebook.com/groups/222454091643580/. It was an experience that we will cherish and remember forever. Questions about your order? Video of their New York performance will be available on video on their website. We are lucky because we make it true., Leonid & Friends sold out their Sony Hall performance. In the decades since, this astonishing trumpeter, pianist and composer has inspired audiences in every corner of the world and awakened a new generation of great performers. Andrey Zyl was born in the city of Minsk, Belarus in 1992 and now lives in Moscow. In 2017, Leonid & Friends released its debut album, "Chicagovich: To 50th Anniversary of the band Chicago," featuring their versions of 11 songs by Chicago. We'd love to see you there! Can Kashirin believe all that has occurred, especially the spontaneous bonding of American and Russian music lovers? Buzina Kseniya Yurievna is one of the singers in Leonid & Friends, Russia's top Chicago tribute band. Singer from Chicago tribute band weathers, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Singer from Chicago tribute band weathers Ukraine invasion in Kyiv, 4 dead in Mojave Desert community after shooting report, El Chapo sons send Mexico cartels cheap fentanyl into US, The dad whose wife and child were among 5 killed by a neighbor in Texas describes how the massacre unfolded. He would vow to learn how to play it exactly as the master played in that composition. FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson. After rushing his wife and children to the Ukrainian-Polish border, he returned to Kyiv. This song is truly artful and Grammy worthy. With a major in Performance and Composition from the Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts, Butman performed with noteables including Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, The Lionel Hampton Orchestra, The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Wynton Marsalis, Natalie Cole, Billy Cobham and Grover Washington Jr., who took Igor "under his wing." Whats your living room pick up for a noodle guitar. Because in Russia, Chicago is known mostly by musicians. He made the right decision for his family. He has also served as For anyone who hasnt heard Leonid and Friends doing song covers (Chicago, EW&F, etc. People are preparing to fight across the country.. So he contacted some fellow musicians, and they recorded Vorobyevs favorite song, Chicagos Brand New Love Affair.. He had been raised on straight-up rock bordered by Led Zeppelin, Creedence Clearwater and Deep Purple: At first, it was kind of strange, on the jazz side, not pure rock. Its part of a popularity thats taken Leonid & Friends by surprise. Valery began playing with Leonid & Friends in April of 2022 and is happy to welcome listeners and lovers of this amazing music. He learned to play the euphonium and its variants as well as various percussion instruments, but his heart centered on the trombone of which he is known for. And, because sheet music of Chicago's music and lyrics was not available in Russia, Vorobyev had to learn and transpose all the songs by ear, then write out charts for his group's other members. Kashirin has played guitar since he was a small boy and studied at an academy in the Moldavian town of Tiraspol. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the Because it has 11 members as opposed to the seven musicians who comprised Chicago in the Illinois-bred ensemble's creative heyday in the1960s and '70s Leonid & Friends has an even fuller sound than the group it pays homage to nightly on stage. Vorobyev, a former choir director, has long worked as a producer, arranger and session musician at a Moscow recording studio. A GoFundMe page to support Tiagnyriadno and his family at https://sergeukrainefamily.org has been created and the band is helping to promote it. We need to stop this war., Editors note: This version of the story updates the status of the bands upcoming tour. When he broke a string as a teenage electric bassist, the scarcity of musical equipment in Siberia meant he had to continue playing for more than a year with just three strings. Every song was better than the last. We were surprised that so many people enjoy Chicagos music. She earned her first paycheck singing at the age of 16 accompanied by her musician Father, performing in local restaurants on the weekends. We were so thrilled that Robert, Danny, and Michelle took the time to visit with us, Vorobyev said. "It still is hard to conceive this is happening, because many Russians can only dream of playing for American audiences," Vorobyev said last week, as his band drove to a gig in New York from Vermont. That, in turn, prompted Vorobyevs fellow musicians to make a request of him. // ]]>. Their virtuoso lead guitarist Terry Kath had been neutered as the band was slowly being body-snatched by Peter Ceteras sappy balladry. Many Russian bands and singers have passed through his hands and ears. All three sang in different ranges, had completely unique voices and also sang in harmony. Photo: YouTube. "Born into poverty in Cuba and held back by his government, he risked everything to share his gifts with the world. The band played Sony Hall on Tuesday night. And I never wouldve admitted this to my trendier musical friends. Sergey Kashirin - guitar, vocal; Andrey Zyl - trumpet, flugelhorn; Maxim Likhachev - trombone; Alexandr . It feels like youre watching a movie about the apocalypse, says the bearded musician from his home in Kyiv, still under siege from Russian forces, with no end in sight., Serge Tiagnyriadno of the band Leonid & Friends. According to the bands manager, Vorobyevs son Roman, more than 1,000 patrons are expected at the picturesque mountaintop music hall, and ticket sales confirm it. You learn about people whose lives have little in common with yours. I am a musician, songwriter and composer of music for the TV Show. Leonid is Leonid Vorobyev (third from left), a Moscow producer, bassist, transcriber and arranger. He had no help from Chicago. If you told someone that you just heard the best cover versions of the songs of the brassy, best-selling pop act Chicago 25 or 6 to 4, If You Leave Me Now, Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is and the band members were from Eastern Europe, you might think they were pulling your leg. Leonid & Friends performing the music of Chicago When: 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 8 Where: Belly Up, 143 South Cedros Ave., Solana Beach Tickets: $35 (general admission), $62 (reserved loft seating). You have to hear it to believe it. Since then Leonid & Friends has recorded videos of other Chicago hits including Make Me Smile, 25 or 6 to 4, and Saturday In The Park. All rights reserved (About Us). What is the allure for Vorobyev, who because of the difficulty of obtaining American albums in Siberia as a teenager only heard Chicago's 1969 debut album three years later in Moscow on a cassette tape bootleg? I love Pop, Funk, Soul, Jazz, Indie, electronic, anything is fine with me.Oleg went on to work with many artists and played for years with the popular group Bravo which was established in 1983, a year before he was born. She has worked with Radio and TV Orchestra and with many Russian pop-stars. For his 60th birthday, Vorobyev recorded a cover version of Chicago's 1975 song, "Brand New Love Affair (Parts I. You will be blown away. Alexey is a graduate of the Moscow Music Institute of Gnesin and Moscow Institute of exemption for fair use of copyrighted works. Cole was the scalpel and Kam is the hammer., 62 Mothers Day specials at Chicago restaurants to wow moms, from free mimosas to all-you-can-eat brunch, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. He is the bands producer, plays bass and piano, sings lead and backing vocals, transcribes all the musical sources, and he produces, mixes, and masters all audio and video productions. He began playing with Leonid & Friends nearly 3 years ago and has become a gem of the bands brass section. He never gravitated toward a single genre saying, I have no preference in music styles. This led to live performance requests as well. Irina is a singer-songwriter in the project with Igor Javad-Zade "Smotri I.". Together, they performed Chicago's 1972 hit, "Saturday in the Park.". Then again, as a child in Siberia in the 1960s, the only time Vorobyev saw The Beatles perform on Soviet TV was in a Russian government-produced propaganda film denouncing the dangers of western cultural decadence. Sergey Kashirin; Related news. PROSPECT HEIGHTS, Brooklyn Its an all-American story that could only be carried out by residents of Moscow, Russia, in New York, by way of Chicago and L.A. Trumpet students, both in Russia and abroad, strive to take Valerys classes and learn the secrets of pitch from him. I spotted a pro photographer at our gig yesterday, and made "guitar faces" every time I saw him. But early in the morning on Feb. 24, his family woke up to air raid sirens and countless explosions. It's part of a popularity that's taken. The song opens up with very haunting Siberian Tuvan Throat Singing. Michael represented Russia at the Junior Eurovision 2008, held in Limassol, Cyprus. Chicago was just so over by then.
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