Swingcats of Astoria bring jazz to KALA
ASTORIA — Swingcats of
Astoria will perform from 8
to 10 p.m. Saturday, March
19 at KALA. Guest musicians
will also perform, including
jazz and blues singer Dinah
Urell.
Swingcats of Astoria is a
revival of the original Swing-
cats from a few years ago. The
group plays swing and jazz
from the 1930s gypsy jazz of
Django Reinhardt, jazz and be-
bop of the ’50s, and jazz of the
1960s and ’70s as well as orig-
inal compositions. The group
features Richard Thomasian,
Ted Brainard, Dave Ambrose
and Lawrence Aldred.
Thomasian began playing
the guitar at age 13 in Fresno,
California. It was just a hob-
by until 1972, when, at 21,
he decided to make a career
out of it. Thomasian has been
playing music up and down
the West Coast for 42 years.
He has focused on jazz but
also enjoys blues, rock, funk,
country, folk and reggae.
Brainard started his musical
journey in Southern California
in the early 1970s. He relo-
cated to Oregon in 1980 after
passing through on tour. He
continued his musical career
as a performer and a teacher.
On the North Coast, he enjoys
playing and performing with
many local musicians.
Ambrose started play-
ing violin in the mid-1990s
and fell in love with a blond
stand-up bass in 2000. Since
then he’s played with a blue-
grass quintet, the original
Swingcats, and Astoria-based
international music quartet
Acustica.
Aldred’s playing started
with SkifÀe and early rhythm
Submitted photo
Swingcats of Astoria is a revival of the Swingcats band from a few years ago, and features,
from left, Ted Brainard, Richard Thomasian, Dave Ambrose and Larry Aldred.
dinin g out
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Favorite stop to & from the Coast
and blues in Manchester, En-
gland. He also grew up in a
home full of big-band sounds,
a mom who sang standards,
and “a great tolerance of my
tapping on things,” he says.
Coming to America in 1962,
Aldred moved to Nashville
and developed his drumming
in rock, rhythm and blues,
jazz and Western swing be-
fore moving to the Bay Area
in ’65. Aldred played around
Northern California for about
30 years before retiring and
moving to Astoria 10 years
ago. Since arriving on the
North Coast, he has enjoyed
playing with several jazz
groups.
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