32 – In Fabula

The trio has previously released several albums: OX (2016), featuring original compositions by Oscar Del Barba, incorporating dodecaphony, polytonality, odd rhythms, and polymeters; Giuseppe Verdi Entangled with Achille Succi (2019), where Verdi’s opera pieces are decontextualized and reimagined with progressive rock colors, reminiscent of Frank Zappa’s compositions; and a project on West Side Story by L. Bernstein, again featuring Achille Succi, where Bernstein’s opera pieces are enhanced by a careful use of electronics. In Fabula marks a return to the trio’s original format. Through these projects, the OX Trio has performed at festivals and events, receiving positive reviews in newspapers and magazines.

Oscar Del Barba
Born in Brescia in 1968, Oscar Del Barba holds degrees in piano, jazz, composition, and orchestration for bands. An eclectic artist by “expressive need,” this drive has led him to compose and perform in various musical styles: from pop to jazz, from “classical” music to folk and popular music from different parts of the world, forming a personal style that is both complex and accessible. In 1993 and 1994, he won two scholarships to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He has received numerous awards in prestigious piano and composition competitions, both classical and jazz, including the 1st Prize at the International Composition Competition “Scrivere in Jazz” in Sassari in 2002. In 2009, he was awarded the prestigious “Premio Gorni Kramer” (VII edition) for his musical work. Del Barba has collaborated with renowned musicians in the international music and jazz scene such as Markus Stockhausen, Dave Liebman, Ralph Alessi, Javier Girotto, and many more. He has performed in prestigious theaters and auditoriums across several countries. In addition to his concert and compositional activities, Del Barba has always been involved in teaching. He is currently a professor of jazz piano at the “Giuseppe Verdi” Conservatory of Music in Milan.

Giacomo Papetti
Born in Brescia in 1984, Papetti is an electric and acoustic bassist, double bassist, composer, arranger, and artistic producer. He debuted at a young age, performing alongside local singer-songwriters and in cover bands. Today, he is active in a variety of musical fields, ranging from contemporary jazz to alternative pop/rock, with a strong focus on original and experimental music. He has recorded over 30 albums and leads several groups, including *The Loom* and *Small Choices*. Papetti has performed hundreds of concerts in Italy and abroad.

Andrea Ruggeri 
A drummer, composer, arranger, and teacher, Ruggeri began playing drums at the age of eleven, largely self-taught, and participating in numerous seminars and master classes. Currently, he is in his second year of an academic degree in jazz drums and percussion. Ruggeri has performed with numerous national and international artists and has recorded over thirty albums. Since 2014, he has led the ARE Andrea Ruggeri Ensemble, a group of thirteen musicians from different regions of Italy. In 2017, he made his solo debut with the performance IDcard.

In fabula

The Dog and the Bell
This piece, like most of the pieces I will describe below, underwent gradual elaboration, and I am pleased to show the evolution it has had compared to the original melody, to which sections were added, some dedicated to improvisation. In the elaborated version, which consists of 94 bars compared to the 22 of the original (even though it was repeated), an introduction and other sections were added where I used mainly polytonality and some “false” time changes (especially in 7/4), which give the impression of a shift but actually return to the initial 4/4. The thematic fragment recurs after each solo, sometimes varied or developed. This is the only piece that has a fairly complex structure in which the written part is significant.
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The Horse and the Donkey
A descriptive piece, a simple melody that we treated like a jazz standard in the recording. Indeed, during the improvisations, we kept the harmonic framework, which is also simple, with extensive use of dominant seventh chords that evoke a blues atmosphere.
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The Wolf and the Lamb
Here too, we have a descriptive melody that could be associated with various “fairy tale” characters. The choice of “The Wolf and the Lamb” was due to the character of the melody, which lends itself well to this association. The rhythmic choice made during the recording (a rock beat in 2 with the bass drum hitting the quarter notes…) emphasizes the character, which could even be considered somewhat epic. Compared to the written accompaniment on the score, we chose to give the drums the rhythmic role while the piano takes on playing the theme and, with the left hand, holds chords that are often played offbeat. The double bass acts as a bridge between the piano and drums with very “rock” lines.
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The Country Mouse and the City Mouse
In this case, the improvisation happens before the theme appears, which gradually emerges with elements already introduced earlier until it is fully revealed toward the end of the piece. The theme, also very descriptive, is based on harmonic contrasts. Indeed, the beginning of the melody uses the third of the D major chord simultaneously with the fourth (a note usually avoided on a major chord) and on the major third-minor third contrast (as in bar 9). There are further moments of contrast, such as in bar 13 (melody fixed on E, while the lower part performs a chromatic line with bicords based on a perfect fourth interval). The piece alternates between two elements in the first part A (bars 1 and 7) and the B element starting in bar 11. Then the theme repeats identically.
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The Eagle and the Beetle
A singable melody, a sort of song in A-flat major, initially performed by the double bass, which emerges from a background of bells with the piano harmonically supporting the bass theme, very freely in rubato until it takes over the theme from bar 17, starting to make the rhythmic pulse more regular. The theme is based on a sort of polytonality: while the melody seems based on the key of E-flat major, the harmonic part is more directed toward A-flat major. The two elements merge, creating an A-flat Lydian harmony (major with a raised fourth degree). The same happens in bar 11, a whole tone lower, until reaching bar 15, where the harmony becomes clearer.
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The Ant and the Grasshopper
Compared to the score, the piece was conceived during the recording as a long improvised drum solo while the piano and double bass play, in rubato, the melody, reminiscent of some performances by Ornette Coleman. Here too, the melody is very bluesy, both harmonically and rhythmically. During the piece, there are fermatas, moments where the time “stops” with small improvisations, only to resume and continue.
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The Frog and the Scorpion
For the music of Aesop’s (probably) most famous fable, I chose a rather “hopping” rhythm in 6/8 using a D-flat major Lydian harmony. The theme, which starts after the double bass introduction, is a sort of somewhat macabre tarantella that intensifies until it reaches the climax, describing the moment when the scorpion stings the frog, leading to the death of both, and ending with the moral.
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The Fox and the Goat, The Fox and the Grapes, The Fox and the Panther
These three pieces, despite having different characteristics, are united by an originally choral melody, varied mainly in rhythmic terms: “The Fox and the Goat” is a waltz (ending with a canon between double bass and piano); “The Fox and the Grapes” is in 4/4 time, a march (with a hint of Saint-Saëns), burlesque with various humorous moments; “The Fox and the Panther” has a rock feel, and unlike the score, the piano and drums play the same rhythm while the double bass performs a line on an irregular rhythm.
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