Leonid graduated from East Siberian Institute of Culture as a Choir Conductor. He is the band’s 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. Leonid Vorobyev is the leader and founder of the band Leonid & Friends. Musical director and founder of Leonid & Friends. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Denver Post, Orange County Register and various publications across the U.S. Scott Schwebke has been a journalist for more than 30 years and a longtime fan of Chicago dating back to its incarnation as CTA. In September of 2018, the band recorded its first song from legendary supergroup Earth, Wind, & Fire and also paid tribute to the band Blood, Sweat & Tears as well.īorrowing a line from one of Chicago's biggest hits, 'it's only the beginning' of great things from Leonid & Friends. When Leonid & Friends isn’t touring, band members are in the studio in Moscow immersing themselves in Chicago’s storied catalog of hits and deep tracks while preparing for the next tour. “It was an experience that we will cherish and remember forever.” “We were so thrilled that Robert, Danny, and Michelle took the time to visit with us,” Vorobyev said. 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. “I was expecting a warm greeting but I didn't expect such a warm reception and with so much love and gratitude for us.” and driving for hours to attend our shows,” Vorobyev said. “The fans were so eager to see us that some traveled from as far as Hawaii and the Philippines not mentioning flying across the U.S. 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. However, Leonid & Friends hasn’t been satisfied with merely connecting with fans through videos and recordings. 'All of my musician friends are highly professional,' he said.

However, he credits his highly skilled bandmates for making each tune sing. In addition to scoring and arranging, Vorobyev oversees mixing and mastering of each song. The process of getting each tune just right is a painstaking labor of love.

Also, Leonid & Friends has recorded two albums showcasing its tribute to Chicago. 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.Īll total the videos have received more than 50 million views. The result was a YouTube video that quickly went viral. No charts or scores of the song existed so Vorobyev transcribed the tune by ear. In 2014, Vorobyev decided to indulge his love for the band by gathering a few fellow musicians in a studio to record a video of them playing his favorite Chicago tune, Brand New Love Affair. 'I loved so much the brilliant mixture of rock guitars, drums, and jazz horns with bright vocal harmonies,' he said. It was a nightmare, and I hated them all!'īut that all changed when Vorobyev heard Chicago. Those musicians almost always were drunk and quite often tried to play with us our rock songs. 'We were allowed to rehearse in the same room with a horns band. 'In the early 1970s in the USSR, electric guitars, amplifiers, and drums were rare to find so at school we were playing self-made instruments,' Vorobyev explained. Ironically, Vorobyev wasn’t always a fan of horn bands, and as a teenager gravitated to the hard-driving guitar-based sounds of the Beatles, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Deep Purple, and Grand Funk Railroad.

David brubeck take five lyrics