To recreate this atmosphere, Mingus introduces the songs as if he were speaking to the audience, even admonishing them to not applaud or rattle their glasses.

About the only other guidance I give them is that if I hear them doing something particularly good one night, I remind them of it next time we play the number and suggest they keep it in.

This song features melodic drum work from Dannie Richmond and sympathetic interplay by Ted Curson and Eric Dolphy.

Nat Hentoff's liner notes state, "In the club, the mood of the caricature was much more bitingly sardonic and there was a great deal more tension.

Mingus says the other label would not allow him to record the talking sections, which he feels are an important part of the overall color and movement of the piece.

Eric Dolphy plays alto saxophone on this version, and he would perform many more on bass clarinet when he rejoined Mingus in 1964; one example from that year is the live recording from Cornell 1964, on which "Fables" was expanded to almost half an hour.

The piece features a complex, lyrical melody performed by Ted Curson and Eric Dolphy (first on alto saxophone, then bass clarinet).

Nat Hentoff concludes, "For once, in these sessions, everyone in a Mingus unit reached—and maintained—that level of daring and that power to make their instruments become extensions of themselves."