Aruṇ Lūthrā and a curated mix of multigenerational musicians convene to play live music for LaTasha Barnes’ “Swing into Spring” event on April 12.
By Maggie Ginsberg
When the request came in, Aruṇ Lūthrā was instantly intrigued: Could he pull together a unique band to provide live music for one-of-a-kind, one-time-only, interactive workshop featuring dancers of all skill levels? As an award-winning composer, band leader, saxophonist and konnakolist (Carnatic music vocalized rhythms), Lūthrā is used to creating and executing a vision — it’s just usually his own.
“This is different,” says Lūthrā, who serves as teaching faculty in the Mead Witter School of Music and affiliated faculty in the UW–Madison International Division’s Center for South Asia. “LaTasha is the visionary, and I am in service of her vision.”
The visionary he speaks of is LaTasha Barnes, a renowned swing dance artist and scholar who is coming to Wisconsin on April 3 for the “Swing into Spring” statewide residency. She’ll be dancing and teaching her way across six cities in eight days, culminating with a free, public workshop celebration on April 12 at the Goodman Community Center in Madison — and that’s the event for which she needed a very special band. Its members needed to be flexible, skilled, and well-versed in the continuum of Black American music.
Lūthrā was just the person to put it together. 
Long-established in New York City’s jazz scene as a premier saxophonist performing and recording with jazz, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian and pop artists, as well as studying with Carnatic and Hindustani music masters, Lūthrā first came to UW–Madison in 2021 through the Interdisciplinary Artist-in-Residency Program at the Division of the Arts, then led by UW Dance Professor Chris Walker — the two instantly connected. While in residence, Lūthrā taught a popular three-credit course called “The Universal Language of Rhythm: Explorations Through Konnakol and Black American Music.” It investigated Black American Music and classical Indian rhythmic traditions in the context of rhythm as a universal phenomenon, as well as examined systemic political, social, and economic oppression.
“I’m of South Asian descent and white European descent — I’m not Black, I’m not African American, and yet I’ve devoted my life to African American music,” Lūthrā says. “It’s essential to be very explicit in acknowledging this is the culture that created this music that I love and also play. And my understanding of LaTasha’s work is that is the whole basis of what she’s about. She’s a keeper of the flame, an ambassador, a torchbearer for this culture.”
When it came time to design the “Swing into Spring” residency, Walker connected Barnes with Lūthrā. Lūthrā immersed himself in Barnes’ scholarly work to select songs that would execute her storytelling vision. He tapped multigenerational musicians who could handle a dynamic spectrum, like sousaphonist Mike Hogg, who can flow with both New Orleans brass band and Hip-hop beats, and pianist Isaiah Dobbins, who can cover both piano and electronic synth sounds. He also enlisted current UW–Madison Mead Witter School of Music students, as well as Madison-based rap artist Rob Dz on vocals. The full group will only meet and rehearse for the first time when Barnes and her dance partner, Le’Andre Douglas, land on campus. And they’ll only perform together once, on April 12, in what promises to be a one-of-a-kind event for everyone involved.
“Let’s say LaTasha and Le’Andre are really in the heat of the moment and they’re just dancing to this thing that we’re doing,” Lūthrā says. “The band is gonna feed off that energy and start improvising within the structure of the song to accompany that dance. It’s not like a Beethoven symphony where you play it the same way every single time. It’s supposed to be interactive, collaborative, with lots of elements of personal self-expression.”
One of the most unique things about the “Swing into Spring” performance is this interactive nature, which extends to the audience. Barnes will be leading participants of all skill levels through instruction of swing and other Black social dance forms, which means Lūthrā’s band needs to be ready for anything as it makes its circular way through a broad range of sonic palettes that includes brass band, swing, bebop, Jump Blues, Motown, R&B, Hip-hop, electronica and other eras. Anything could happen — and that’s kind of the point.
“So much dancing these days happens to recorded music, and not live music, and I want folks to come away just thrilled and delighted at what an incredible experience live music is,” Lūthrā says. “That human connection between the musicians, the dancers, and the audience is magical.”
Learn more about LaTasha Barnes and the Swing into Spring event here.