Omasta plays J Dilla

Polish quintet Omasta recently made their debut in style: with a great live set in honor of hip-hop legend J Dilla in their hometown Krakow. Their set also featured reworked versions by other hip-hop pioneers like Madlib and MF Doom. No coincidence: they played their set in a record store called Paul's Boutique, a one-on-one nod to the classic 1998 album by the Beastie Boys.

Omasta consciously combines jazz with influences from hip hop and street culture. They do this with a driven rhythm section, supplemented with piano, trumpet, saxophone and ... flute! No coincidence - we guess - that André 3000 or Shabaka Hutchings also recently indulged in the flute and came up with some pretty impressive work.

In the meantime, Omasta is working hard to release their first release on the Polish quality label Astigmatic Records (see also: EABS, BLOTO, ...). But first a focus on J Dilla and that in the context of 'Dilla Month'. Not coincidentally February, the month in which he was both born (1974) and died (2006) at the age of only 32 from a heart attack.