Billy Strayhorn.......

......... is best known for his key role in the Duke Ellington orchestra.  He died in in 1967 and it was not until the 1990s that a huge collection of his unpublished compositions and arrangements was discovered.  The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra is doing a wonderful job of bringing some of these to life.

This is Paul Towndrow playing Strayhorn's last composition, Blood Count, written from his hospital bed.  The recording of this tune by the Ellington Orchestra  is one of the finest examples of the great Johnny Hodges on alto sax.  Paul Towndrow did a great job playing Johnny Hodges part at the Queen's Hall in Edinburgh.