Blood Count is a 1967 jazz composition by Billy Strayhorn, originally written for Duke Ellington and briefly titled Blue Cloud. Strayhorn finished the piece while hospitalised with cancer, and it became his last finished work before his death on May 31, 1967. The Ellington orchestra premiered Blood Count at Carnegie Hall in March 1967 and it was later issued on The Greatest Jazz Concert in the World (1975). Ellington recorded the tune in August 1967 for his tribute album for Strayhorn, ...And His Mother Called Him Bill, and many artists since then have interpreted it, including Stan Getz, Jimmy Rowles, Joe Henderson, and Bobby Watson; it was also part of the 2013 Essentially Ellington repertoire. Musically, Blood Count is a dramatic ballad in D minor with an AABAC feel, noted for its emotional depth, a haunting ending, and a standout alto saxophone moment by Johnny Hodges in the Stuttgart 1967 recording.
