"Blood Count" is a composition of the jazz composer, arranger and pianist Billy Strayhorn, known for his collaboration with band leader Duke Ellington and, for example, the song "Take the A Train".

Strayhorn wanted to compose a three-part work for Ellington, entitled "Blue Cloud". In 1967 the composer was admitted to the hospital: he had cancer. Strayhorn finished work at the hospital: it would be his last compilation. After his death, Ellington recorded the number for his tribute album for Strayhorn, ... and His Mother Called Him Bill. After that, he never played it again, but several musicians have recorded it over the years, including Art Farmer, Stan Getz, Jimmy Rowles, Joe Henderson, Horace Parlan, Harold Danko, Norris Turney, Larry Willis, Bobby Watson, Howard Alden, the Vienna Art Orchestra and the Groningen Art Ensemble.

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