Mario Barbaja

Mario Barbaja is a little known artist based in Milan, whose early works have much in common with another singer-songwriter that released his main albums on Ariston, Claudio Rocchi. Like Rocchi's first album, Barbaja's debut, Argento, is a mainly acoustic work, based on guitar with some flute, sitar and percussion, in a sort of eastern-influenced psych/folk style. Second album, Megh, has more intense arrangements closer to rock, and is usually considered his best LP. It featured many well-known session musicians, among which guitarist Ricky Belloni from Nuova Idea and his brother Gigi on bass, Eugenio Finardi, [a145643] and Lucio Fabbri (both also with Finardi, the latter was then in PFM), drummers Tullio De Piscopo (with New Trolls Atomic System and later one of the most important Italian session drummers) and Pasquale Venditto from Forum Livii and Ibis, and even a guest appearance by Stormy Six leader Franco Fabbri. With the latest group Barbaja had also collaborated writing Sotto il bambù, released on single in the same year. Later albums from 1975 and 1978 were on a lower level and closer to a poppy style.