East River-New Leonid and Friend Release

leonidandfriendsband.com ^ | 7-27-20 | Leonid Vorobyev

[cyclotic]

Prepare for your next musical obsession. The best of Russian Collusion. Leonid and Friends are out with a brand new tune. It's a funk Jazz tune from the Brecker Brothers.

I've never heard of Breckers or this song but it rocks.

Turns out Randy Brecker was a founding member of Blood Sweat and Tears.

[real saxophonist]

Sadly, Michael Brecker passed away in 2007. Hard to believe it's been that long. Had the privilege of meeting him once.

Oleg does a great job on tenor here. Playing a Guardala mouthpiece, like Brecker.

I debuted my Guardala at the 1986 Savannah Jazz Festival.

[real saxophonist]

Correction, it was the 1988 Savannah Jazz Festival. Those years all run together. 8~)

[Robert DeLong]

Brecker Brothers were a jazz music duo consisting of Michael Brecker and Randy Brecker. Michael played saxophone, flute, and EWI, and Randy played trumpet and flugelhorn.

Randy, the older brother, became famous as an original member of the group Blood, Sweat & Tears. He appeared on their debut album Child Is Father to the Man in 1968.

So this is a cover song of the original by the Brecker Brothers, called East River and it is being performed by a group of people from Russia calling themselves Leonid & Friends.

[cyclotic]

I guess I wasn’t real clear. I wasn’t familiar with the Brecker Brothers or this song.

Leonid and Friends have recorded a bunch of covers from Chicago, Earth Wind and Fire, Blood Sweat and Tears and the Ides of March.

They’ve done two US tours. We saw them in Annapolis, MD last year and can’t wait for this COVID insanity to end to catch them again.

Check out the rest of their playlist. I recommend starting with Question 67 and 68.

[Magic Fingers]

Thanks for the heads up on the new tune. I saw them last year in Phoenix - great players!

[Robert DeLong]

Well I have to admit that I was a wee bit confused. So doing the research I decided to share what I learned. Hope that doesn't upset you. 8>)

I too had never heard of the Brecker Brothers. Probably because Jazz is not one of my favorite music styles. I mean, I like some of the Jazz I hear, but Jazz was never something that I took a deep dive into. My point is, that it was all Greek to me which added immensely to my confusion. Since I did like Chicago, and still enjoy hearing them once in awhile, I found Leonid & Friends to be a very enjoyable music source. Thanks for sharing them. Not a group I would have found on my own I'm pretty sure. 8>)

[cyclotic]

No worries.

A FReeper posted about L&F a couple years ago and I was hooked.

Chicago and Earth Wind and Fire have long been two of my favorite groups so these guys had me as a fan.

the Brecker Brothers thing got me too. It’s kind of a weird song. The Brothers version is also pretty weird, but at the same time a fun listen.

Leonid releases a new tune about every other month so I just check their site and see what’s new.