. I put my Bose headphones on, and it was mesmerizing. He has collaborated with musicians in Russia and from various foreign countries. But his musical focus remains squarely on Chicago. Do stagnant California credit scores suggest consumer struggles? All three sang in different ranges, had completely unique voices and also sang in harmony. He has worked with numerous Russian performers both in the studio and on stage. The result was a YouTube video that quickly went viral. Because in Russia, Chicago is known mostly by musicians. // ]]>. . They started as a YouTube band and now also tours. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. It was an experience that we will cherish and remember forever. Ilya Vymenits is a drummer/percussionist who has worked with many of Russias top bands. Email: info@imediainc.net. [1] Vorobyev made his first Chicago video recording in 2014 of the song "Brand New Love Affair." He has worked with many of Russias top bands. la fitness volleyball court. [3] In 2018, songs by Earth, Wind, & Fire, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Tower of Power and The Ides of March were added to the playlist. My parents are Russian-speaking and no one ever pressured them for speaking Russian and other languages.. The site had raised more than $28,000 as of Thursday afternoon. And he says he is ready to fight if his country needs him. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leonid_and_Friends&oldid=1150049853, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Leonid Vorobyev bass guitar, keyboards, piano, synth, backing and lead vocals, Vasily Akimov lead and backing vocals, percussion, occasional rhythm guitar, Ksenia Buzina backing and lead vocals, percussion, Oleg Kudryavtsev tenor and alto saxophones, flute, percussion, backing vocals, Sergey Kurmaev keyboards, backing vocals, Danil Buranov lead and backing vocals, percussion, Mikhail Puntov (Michael Puntov) lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar, percussion, Serge Tiagnyriadno lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, percussion, Sergey Kashirin lead guitar, lead and backing vocals, Alexey Batychenko (1972-2021) trumpet, flugelhorn, Vladimir Popov baritone and alto saxophones, flute, percussion, backing vocals, Vlad Senchillo keyboards, backing vocals, Daniil Dubrovsky alto, soprano and tenor saxophones on ", Jorgito Nunez congas on "Hanky Panky/Life Saver", Rei Frometa congas on "Call on Me", "Happy Man", ", Olga Andreeva trumpet on "Got To Get You Into My Life", Roman Vorobyev backing vocals and handclaps on "East River" and "Mongonucleosis" (also manager), Igor Baydikov backing vocals and handclaps on "East River" and "Mongonucleosis", Yan Senchillo backing vocals and handclaps on "East River" and "Mongonucleosis", Artur Gilfanov trombone, percussion on "Mongonucleosis", Evgeny Kondratyev trumpet, flugelhorn, percussion on "Mongonucleosis" and "After the Love Has Gone", Mikhail Spasibo keyboards on "Just You 'n' Me", Suren Kocharyan baritone saxophone on ", Kirill Stekhov alto saxophone on "My Old School", Dmitry Andrianov guitar on "Ain't It Blue? They learned that Sergey was selected to play keyboards for Leonid & Friends, replacing their long time player Vlad Senchillo who left earlier in the year.During his first live streaming concert with the band, Roman Vorobyev introduced him to the fans. 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. This led to live performance requests as well. Tiagnyriadno said he was doing as much as I can to convince people that we need to stop this war., In Russia, people consume disastrous propaganda about whats happening in Ukraine, he said. After touring in Russia, the band first toured the United States in 2019. This song is truly artful and Grammy worthy. But their little project, constructed on a lark five years ago by elder bass player Leonid Vorobyev, took off on social media so that they played a US tour last year and now are on their second. They are the best cover band I have seen in person, plus Gary Sinise is a great American. The inflections in each performance would make you believe he listened to some of the songs over and over. Well, its a great story. I been thinking about a road trip to NOLA just to check out some horn players. I am sincerely grateful to all of you for your love for music. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. Maxim Likhachev was born and raised in Moscow where he continues to live today. I watched this with my audio engineer/producer son a couple of days ago. He stayed behind in Kyiv as Russian jets dropped bombs on his city. Its like being in a dream. Theres a feeling of freedom here.. "She gets lots of admiration!" 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.. Their followers remark that they are strong musicians who look like theyre having an incredibly good time. His love for music was evident early in life and he began his formal studies at the age of 11. Meanwhile, Tiagnyriadno struggles to share information about the war with his fans. Sergey Kashirin - guitar, vocal; Andrey Zyl - trumpet, flugelhorn; Maxim Likhachev - trombone; Alexandr . Theres nothing like lazy summer days relaxing on the patio. Olga Grigoryants is a multimedia reporter focusing on urban development, business and culture. A bunch of Russians and one Ukrainian have earned an international following. Altogether, the band's video performances of various Chicago songs amassed more than 30 million online views before Vorobyev and his group arrived in this country for the first time early this year. A GoFundMe page to support Tiagnyriadno and his family at https://sergeukrainefamily.org has been created and the band is helping to promote it. Tiagnyriadno, 40, is abiding by the rules of martial law in his homeland all men between the ages of 18 and 60 are required to remain in the country so they are available to be drafted into the military if needed. He said, My father introduced me to their creativity. Looking back on his first USA tour with Leonid & Friends, Oleg said, I am very grateful to my parents and teachers for helping me to become a professional musician. It was a whole slew of Russians and Ukrainians, playing in a high-end studio in Moscow. People are preparing to fight across the country.. Many of Russian musicians have a dream to play for the American audience Vorobyev said. 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). Can Kashirin believe all that has occurred, especially the spontaneous bonding of American and Russian music lovers? You learn about people whose lives have little in common with yours. They have done more, many more. At 16 years old, Valery became a student at the School of Music. For now, Tiagnyriadno is focused on spreading the word about the war among his fans. laureate of international jazz festivals in Russia. Sergey, being a founding member, performs regularly in both studio and live performances. If called, he will serve, he says. He has also served as performances and session work. Alexey is a graduate of the Moscow Music Institute of Gnesin and Moscow Institute of However, they chose to begin their tour in New York because members of the band view our city as an inspiring, cosmopolitan, cultured location thats ideal for artists, like themselves. Leonid is Leonid Vorobyev (third from left), a Moscow producer, bassist, transcriber and arranger. Just as in Chicago, Leonid and Friends use a number of singers. We both thought it was outstanding. He was hooked and he never looked back. Sergey said, When I saw Leonid & Friends on YouTube, I thought myself maybe one day I would play in a band like this. Sandoval began studying classical trumpet at the age of twelve, but it didnt take him long to catch the excitement of the jazz world.He has since evolved into one of the worlds most acknowledged guardians of jazz trumpet and flugelhorn, as well as a renowned classical artist, pianist and composer. "Blood, Sweat & Tears and Tower of Power were great, but they only had one (lead) vocalist," he replied. There was barely even standing room. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? A music enthusiast at an early age, Sergey began singing and playing guitar when he was only 8 years old. It's part of a popularity that's taken. All this despite the fact that the bandmates had never seen Chicago live. The guts of the operation is the painstaking attention to each chart that Vorobyev transcribed himself from the original recordings. His "friends" are a mix of talented musicians and singers who have collaborated with Leonid on his project. They did so first for Russian audiences, and were soon able to expand globally, with the help of the band that they worked so hard to imitate. 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. Mere months ago, the band for which he provides vocals was enjoying acclaim won online and solidified in person. Barack Obama (presenting Arturo Sandoval The Presidential Medal of Freedom. Leonid and Friends is better known for their spot on tributes of Chicago, Earth Wind and Fire, Blood Sweat and Tears and others. In Los Angeles, the band met its musical heroes, founding members of Chicago, keyboardist Robert Lamm, and drummer Danny Seraphine as well as Michelle Kath Sinclair, daughter of late, great Chicago guitarist Terry Kath. And it wasnt just a cover. He may not sound exactly like Lamm, but he has the delivery down perfectly. Valery studied under Vadim Eilenkrig and Alexander Vishnepolsky. Vladimir Osinsky is a composer, arranger, sound engineer, and keyboardist who has worked with many of Russia's top bands. We are monitoring the situation closely but as of now, the tour is moving ahead as scheduled, said Gil Jacobs, the bands agent, in a statement. Big, resonant brass sounds converging from different directions, intertwining and melding and emerging from the back sides of chords to find their own ways back together in the next verse. Kashirin particularly liked something original Chicago drummer Danny Seraphine said when he sat in with Leonid & Friends at their show on July 12 in St. Charles, Ill. Igor Butman, saxophone virtuoso, bandleader, club owner and television host is Russia's number one jazz personality. Leonid and Friends is better known for their spot on tributes of Chicago, Earth Wind and Fire, Blood Sweat and Tears and others. 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? Very well done cover. In fact, Leonid & Friends's video cover of Chicago's " 25 or 6 to 4 " has more YouTube views than Chicago's own most recent live version of its own song . 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. I was never a big fan of Chicago. 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. He also developed an appreciation for the rhythms of music which led him to play percussion instruments but in his words Trumpet is more fun! He is a graduate of the Gnesins Russian Academy of Music.Andreys musical talents have led him to work with notables such as international jazz vocalist Kevin Mahogany from Kansas City, the big bands of Igor Butman, Anatoly Kroll, and George Garanian, and numerous Russian pop stars. Jim Peterik, best known as the founder of the band Survivor; OR as vocalist and songwriter of "Vehicle" by the Ides of March gave a superb compliment to the Leonid & Friends YouTube stars and touring group from Russia. 1957 in Moscow, Russia). Together, they performed Chicago's 1972 hit, "Saturday in the Park.". 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. Sergei Kashirin. What happened was spontaneous, said Kashirin by phone on Wednesday from a tour stop in Cleveland, through interpreter Roman Vorobyev. 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). Irina is a singer-songwriter in the project with Igor Javad-Zade "Smotri I.". There's one catch to this group, however no one in this global cover band has ever seen Chicago perform live. But its all true. Since 2016, Danil has released singles, shot music videos for his songs, and toured with a unique vocal and dance cover show. Chicago was a land of jazz, rock and pop music, all together.". We will miss you. You must log in or register to reply here. As a guitarist of over 45 years myself, I greatly admire Sergey's musical talents! Another 11-song covers album, "Chicagovich II," came out last year. But in recent weeks, the Ukrainian native sent his wife and children scrambling across the Ukrainian border to neighboring Poland. After studying writing in Moscow, she moved to Los Angeles in 2007 and has called it home ever since. 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. Vlad is a graduate of the Ufa Institute of Arts as a choir conductor. Vorobyev is a multi-instrumentalist, a recording studio sound engineer and choir conductor by training at the East Siberian Institute of Culture. If you ever get a chance to see The Lt Dan Band, do it. 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. When he turned nine he added clarinet to the mix. Valery began playing with Leonid & Friends in April of 2022 and is happy to welcome listeners and lovers of this amazing music.