When Polish record label Astigmatic Records puts its earnings on an act, discerning ears take notice. Known for curating some of the most dynamic sounds at the intersection of Polish jazz and modern club culture, the Warsaw-based label found some sort of kinetic synergy with Kraków outfit Omasta.
Their name translates in old regional slang to the savoury fat or rendered lard added to elevate a dish. It seems to work as an apt metaphor: what Omasta contributes to contemporary improvised music is pure flavour. Rooted in the rich history of Poland’s storied jazz tradition while absorbing the chopped rhythms of golden-era boom bap, the quintet creates a sound that lives squarely in the modern head territory occupied by crate-diggers and clubgoers alike.
Formed by trumpeter Paweł Kowalik, saxophonist and flautist Antoni Blumhoff, keyboardist Bruno Sikorski, bassist Wojciech Roman, and drummer Nikodem Wikieł, Omasta sidesteps the academic side of jazz entirely. They channel the atmospheric, street-level edge of hip-hop and jazz’s freestyling nature without losing touch with the traditional language of those genres. Before cutting their own records, the band earned their stripes running tribute sets to J Dilla and Madlib across Poland (a background that still dictates how they play).
You can tell their hip-hop foundation shapes their sound greatly: Sikorski’s electric piano and synth work lock into Wikieł’s unquantized drumming, giving Paweł Kowalik and Antoni Blumhoff the pocket to trade modal horn lines bathed in 1970s jazz-funk. It owes more attitude to street culture than academic jazz.
And now, striding into the eleventh month, Italian audiences have an unvarnished chance to catch this kinetic chemistry up close. As part of their tour, Omasta touches down in the heart of Rome’s historic Trastevere district on the 20th November as part of Rome’s 50th Jazz Festival edition. They’ll be performing at the former cinema, reimagined as an intimate temple for funk, soul, and forward-thinking live music: Alcazar.
