When I first saw this I wanted to title it, “A Bunch Of Dudes In Russia Playing Chicago.” I thought, there’s some dudes clear on the other side of the world, taking the time to learn these songs and arrangements that are 50 years old, in a recording studio, really layin’ this shit down. Of all the bands or music you would’ve thought somebody in Russia would be covering, not that you really would have ever thought that, classic Chicago probably would have been that last one.

Then I saw a couple more and, these cats are pretty good. Here’s Robert Lamm’s classic, Beginnings.

It made me think of a situation that happened many years ago when I still lived in Jacksonville, FL. We were hosting a special event for the Grand Opening of The Ronnie VanZant Memorial Park in Lake Asbuty, Clay County, Florida. We had a lot of events planned including music, of course. Had a nice Stage and PA setup. Several local bands and guest performers. Plus, there was a Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Band that came all the way from Italy! And they were pretty good. Had the Skynyrd thing down, copped the whole feel pretty well. Even the look, to a degree. They didn’t go overboard and make it weird and goofy. And all the lyrics and harmonies were pretty right on. With the occasional pronunciation anomaly that kept it interesting.

Not a one of them spoke a single word of English!

So Russian dudes covering Chicago tunes, and doing it really well, kind of had a special ring for me.

Another interesting little tidbit (from their website):

“And what is even more stunning is that Leonid & Friends hasn’t seen Chicago perform live…”

Leonid and Friends have done several videos, and they perform regularly in their part of the world. They even got some 2019 US dates. Good for them. Getting gigs and traveling to other countries ain’t easy folks.

Take a look at Leonid and Friends website, and find them on social media: Facebook, and YouTube.

Chicago on Amazon.com