| Isfahan | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Duke Ellington |
| Album: | The Far East Suite |
| Released: | 1967 |
| Recorded: | December 1966 |
| Genre: | Jazz |
| Length: | (alternative take) |
| Label: | Bluebird/RCA |
| Producer: | Brad McKuen |
| Prev Title: | Mynah |
| Prev Year: | 1966 |
| Next Title: | Depk |
| Next Year: | 1966 |
"Isfahan" is a jazz piece credited to Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington and released on Ellington's 1967 album The Far East Suite; Isfahan is a city in Iran. It features long-time Ellington soloist Johnny Hodges on alto saxophone. It was originally called "Elf" when Strayhorn[1] composed it, months before the 1963 Ellington orchestra world tour during which the group traveled to Iran.
In The Penguin Guide to Jazz, Richard Cook and Brian Morton have suggested that "Isfahan is arguably the most beautiful item in Ellington's and Strayhorn's entire output."[2]
In 1988 the song was presented in Studio Sessions New York 1963 by LMR label and later on by the Saja Records.[3]