Tribute acts have become all the rage in South Florida and beyond. But it’s safe to say that a tribute act will soon appear in South Florida that’s beyond anything most South Floridians have ever seen.
Leonid & Friends is a 10-year-old group that started out as a tribute to the band Chicago, the Midwestern act that was initially called Chicago Transit Authority before shortening its name in 1969. But any further expectation of standard tribute fare stops there at the turnstiles.
One reason is that the group was formed in Russia by bassist, keyboardist and vocalist Leonid Vorobyev. Born in Moscow in 1957, he continues the band’s operations out of Russia’s capital city. Another reason is that, unlike most tributes, the orchestral Leonid & Friends offers infinitely more than just a facsimile of its subject’s original material.
Rather, anyone attending its show on Friday at Sunrise Theatre in Fort Pierce can expect exacting, spot-on renditions of Chicago’s early rockers with guitarist/vocalist Terry Kath (1946-1978) through latter-era ballads sung by its bassist, Peter Cetera, or keyboardist Robert Lamm.
“I love the mixture of rock guitars, drums, and jazz horns with bright vocal harmonies,” Vorobyev says.
The 12-piece Leonid & Friends started touring in the United States five years ago, armed with additional covers likewise featuring high degrees of difficulty including Blood, Sweat & Tears, Steely Dan, Earth, Wind & Fire, and more.
Adding to that degree of difficulty is the fact that no sheet music existed in Russia by Chicago, and the band had never toured the country. So Vorobyev had to transcribe — only by ear and eye — all vocals, horns, guitar, keyboards, bass, drums and percussion before presenting musical charts to his talented ensemble.
“Chicago has never been in Russia,” says Vorobyev, “and none of us have attended their concerts until recently in the United States. We have only recordings and videos.”
Overcoming such obstacles has resulted in a tribute act like no other, which is why Leonid & Friends keeps gaining new fans as it tours Florida and the rest of America through 2024. The remainder of Vorobyev’s lineup includes vocalist/guitarist Vasilii Akimov, guitarist Konstantin Kovachev, keyboardist/vocalist Sergey Kurmaev, saxophonist Oleg Kudryavtsev, trumpeters Andrey Zyl and Valery Martynov, trombonist Maxim Likhachev, drummer Igor Javad-Zade, and vocalists Ksenia Buzina, Danil Buranov and Mikhail Puntov.
The elder Vorobyev actually graduated from the East Siberian Institute of Culture as a choir director, which helps to explain the layered vocal harmonies of his band — even if a Russian accent, more charming than disarming, occasionally slips into the mix. The group actually started out as a YouTube sensation, which hasn’t changed. After 25 years as a producer and engineer, Vorobyev decided to celebrate his supposed 2014 retirement by capturing Chicago’s 1975 track “Brand New Love Affair” in video form, inadvertently launching the frenzied Russian reaction that created Leonid & Friends.
Finding the right personnel was no problem, since Vorobyev had already engineered, recorded and produced studio sessions by most of Russia’s top talent. Other videos on the band’s website feature live-in-the-studio performances ranging from Chicago’s rollicking “25 or 6 To 4” and stately “Feelin’ Stronger Every Day” to later hit ballads like “Stay the Night.”
There’s also impressive recreations of Earth, Wind & Fire’s “After the Love Has Gone,” Steely Dan’s “My Old School,” Chaka Khan’s “Ain’t Nobody” (a showcase for the gifted Buzina), The Ides of March’s “Vehicle,” and Blood, Sweat & Tears’ “Spinning Wheel.” Each with additional guests if needed for authenticity, like a string section for Earth, Wind & Fire and extra horns for Steely Dan.
“Watching those videos was how I learned most of the songs for Solid Brass,” says Kent Demonbreun, bassist/vocalist for that local tribute act to such classic horn bands.
Many of those same artists are featured on Leonid & Friends’ latest self-released, Vorobyev-produced CD, Oldies But Goodies Part 1, plus tracks by Tower of Power, Stevie Wonder, Deep Purple, and the Brecker Brothers.
With three previous Chicagovich (“vich” meaning “son of” in Russian) releases of cover material, Leonid & Friends also display recorded audio expertise of the iconic 57-year-old band. Phil Traynor, a Clearwater-based guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and independent recording artist, posted a review of the first release from 2017, the year that marked Chicago’s 50th anniversary.
“Leonid & Friends is performing Chicago tunes better than the real Chicago is performing them,” Traynor writes. “Vorobyev spent what must have been countless hours painstakingly transcribing each of the parts from every song they perform. His accuracy is astonishing, for each player in the band executes what is essentially a note-for-note re-creation of the original studio album parts.”
Of course, expert musicians and vocalists are also needed to complete such complex puzzles. And seeing is believing on the live videos, as Vorobyev guides the band and plays bass chameleon on its varied material. Javad-Zade calmly executes every nuance of Chicago drummer Danny Seraphine, Likhachev nails the lower-register trombone slides on “Spinning Wheel,” and the vocalists seamlessly tackle the multiple octaves and harmonies of singers like Kath, Cetera, Lamm, Khan, Donald Fagen, David Clayton-Thomas, Maurice White, and Philip Bailey.
During a previous tour through Los Angeles, Leonid & Friends were able to meet some of their heroes — original founding members of Chicago in Lamm and Seraphine, along with Kath’s daughter, Michelle Kath Sinclair.
“We were so thrilled that Robert, Danny and Michelle took the time to visit with us,” says Vorobyev. “It was an experience we will cherish and remember forever.”
If You Go
Leonid & Friends perform at the Sunrise Theatre, 117 S. 2nd St., Fort Pierce.
When: 8 p.m. April 19
Tickets: $39.50 to $149.50 (VIP meet & greet)
Info: 772-461-4775, sunrisetheatre.com