Josh Mellicker
Electric Guitar Solo on
Isfahan

About

Josh Mellicker's electric guitar solo opens the improvisation on this 2021 LA Jazz Connection performance of Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington's "Isfahan." He takes one chorus of the 32-bar ABAC form at 100 BPM in D-flat, his electric guitar tone bringing a warm, sustained quality to this lyrical ballad. The slow tempo demands melodic sensitivity and tonal beauty, and Mellicker's approach honors the composition's soaring, sentimental character. He is the first of three soloists, followed by Danny Janklow on alto saxophone and Michael Gurrola on acoustic bass.

Josh Mellicker was 60 to 61 years old at the time.