This message is confirmed by the first new name in this year’s festival programme. The Swedish trio Dirty Loops, a world music sensation, will visit Lithuania for the first time at the invitation of the festival and will give a concert at Kaunas Žalgiris Arena on 1 May.

The trio Dirty Loops, well-known not only to jazz but also to pop music fans, has become famous for their impressive covers of global hits.

Among the group’s recordings that have taken the internet by storm are versions of songs by Avicii, Justin Bieber, Adele and other world stars, which have received millions of views and showcase the impressive craftsmanship of Dirty Loops’ members.

The band has performed at Montreux (Switzerland) and other of the world’s most famous jazz festivals, and toured the world in 2015 with the popular US band Maroon 5.

Three Stockholm musicians who have known each other since childhood are working together to create a stunning success story.

Singer/pianist Jonah Nilsson, bassist Henrik Linder and drummer Aron Mellergård met in high school and later studied together at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm.

All of them are wunderkinds and have been in the music world since they were very young. Bassist Henrik started playing the piano when he was just four, while vocalist Jonah began performing with Swedish pop star Danny Saucedo in his teens.

After a few years, Dirty Loops, which debuted in 2008, became famous for their spectacular recordings, where they reworked several popular tracks in their own way, using elements of jazz, funk, electronic and pop music.

Their experiments have also resonated across the Atlantic, with their first trip to the US in 2012 impressing soul and r’n’b star Brian McKnight, signing with legendary jazz label Verve and one of the world’s most famous producers, David Foster (who has worked with Bryan Adams, Andrea Bocelli and other superstars). With him, the band embarked on a tour of Asia, where Dirty Loops vocalist Jonah Nilsson took to the stage with funk legend Chaka Khan.

A year later, the band appeared as special guests at the Swedish Eurovision Song Contest, but after intense world tours and diverging creative approaches, they decided to take a career break

However, to the delight of their fans, the band returned a few years later with the release of Phoenix in 2020 and their third album Turbo in 2021, recorded together with the renowned Grammy-nominated US guitarist Cory Wong.

“Dirty Loops” is just the first of many big names from abroad that will be welcoming the “Kaunas Jazz” audience this year. Other international guests will be revealed in the coming weeks. For more information about the festival and its events, visit www.kaunasjazz.lt