Editing Duke Ellington (section)

==Early life and education==
Ellington was born on April 29, 1899, to James Edward Ellington and Daisy (née Kennedy) Ellington in Washington, D.C. Both his parents were pianists. Daisy primarily played [[parlor song]]s, and James preferred operatic [[aria]]s.{{sfn|page=10|Brothers|2018}} They lived with Daisy's parents at 2129 Ida Place (now Ward Place) NW, in D.C.'s [[West End, Washington, D.C.|West End]] neighborhood.<ref name="Lawrence-1">{{Harvnb|Lawrence|2001|p=1}}.</ref> Duke's father was born in [[Lincolnton, North Carolina]], on April 15, 1879, and in 1886, moved to D.C. with his parents.<ref name="Lawrence-2">{{Harvnb|Lawrence|2001|p=2}}.</ref> Daisy Kennedy was born in Washington, D.C., on January 4, 1879, the daughter of two former American [[slave]]s.<ref name="Lawrence-1" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Hasse|1995|p=21}}.</ref> James Ellington made [[wikt:blueprint|blueprint]]s for the [[United States Navy]].

When Ellington was a child, his family showed racial pride and support in their home, as did many other families. African Americans in D.C. worked to protect their children from the era's [[Jim Crow]] laws.<ref>{{harvnb|Cohen|2010}}</ref>

At the age of seven, Ellington began taking piano lessons from Marietta Clinkscales.{{sfn|page=10|Brothers|2018}} Daisy surrounded her son with dignified women to reinforce his manners and teach him elegance. His childhood friends noticed that his casual, offhand manner and dapper dress gave him the bearing of a young nobleman,<ref name= "Terkel">{{Harvnb|Terkel|2002}}.</ref> so they began calling him "Duke". Ellington credited his friend Edgar McEntee for the nickname: "I think he felt that in order for me to be eligible for his constant companionship, I should have a title. So he called me Duke."<ref>{{Harvnb|Ellington|1976|p=20}}.</ref>

Though Ellington took piano lessons, he was more interested in baseball. "[[Teddy Roosevelt|President [Theodore] Roosevelt]] would come on his horse sometimes, and "stop and watch us play," he recalled.<ref>{{Harvnb|Ellington|1976|p=10}}.</ref> Ellington went to [[Armstrong High School (Washington, D.C.)|Armstrong Technical High School]] in Washington, D.C. His first job was selling peanuts at [[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]] baseball games.

Ellington started sneaking into Frank Holiday's Poolroom at age fourteen. Hearing the music of the poolroom pianists ignited Ellington's love for the instrument, and he began to take his piano studies seriously. Among the many piano players he listened to were Doc Perry, Lester Dishman, Louis Brown, [[Turner Layton]], Gertie Wells, Clarence Bowser, Sticky Mack, Blind Johnny, [[Cliff Jackson (musician)|Cliff Jackson]], [[Claude Hopkins]], Phil Wurd, Caroline Thornton, [[Luckey Roberts]], [[Eubie Blake]], Joe Rochester, and [[Harvey Brooks (composer)|Harvey Brooks]].<ref name="Music on My Mind">{{cite book |last=Smith|first=Willie the Lion| title= Music on My Mind: The Memoirs of an American Pianist, Foreword by Duke Ellington|url=https://archive.org/details/musiconmymindmem00smit|url-access=registration|year=1964|page=ix|publisher=Doubleday & Company Inc |location=New York City}}</ref>

In the summer of 1914, while working as a [[soda jerk]] at the Poodle Dog Café, Ellington wrote his first composition, "Soda Fountain [[ragtime|Rag]]" (also known as the "Poodle Dog Rag"). He created the piece by ear, as he had not yet learned to read and write music. "I would play the 'Soda Fountain Rag' as a [[one-step]], [[two-step (dance move)|two-step]], [[waltz]], [[tango]], and [[fox trot]]", Ellington recalled. "Listeners never knew it was the same piece. I was established as having my own repertoire."<ref name= "current">{{cite book| last= Ellington | first= Duke| title= Current Biography| publisher= H.W. Wilson Company| year= 1970}}</ref> In his autobiography, ''Music is my Mistress'' (1973), Ellington wrote that he missed more lessons than he attended, feeling at the time that piano was not his talent.

Ellington continued listening to, watching, and imitating [[ragtime]] pianists, not only in Washington, D.C. but also in [[Philadelphia]] and [[Atlantic City]], where he vacationed with his mother during the summer.<ref name="current"/> He would sometimes hear strange music played by those who could not afford much sheet music, so for variations, they played the sheets upside down.<ref>[[Mercer Ellington]] to [[Marian McPartland]], on ''Piano Jazz'', rebroadcast on ''Hot Jazz Saturday Night'', [[WAMU]], 2018 April 28.</ref> Henry Lee Grant, a [[Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.)|Dunbar High School]] music teacher, gave him private lessons in [[harmony]]. With the additional guidance of Washington pianist and band leader Oliver "Doc" Perry, Ellington learned to read [[sheet music]], project a professional style, and improve his technique. Ellington was also inspired by his first encounters with [[Stride (music)|stride pianists]] [[James P. Johnson]] and Luckey Roberts. Later in New York, he took advice from [[Will Marion Cook]], [[Fats Waller]], and [[Sidney Bechet]]. He started to play gigs in cafés and clubs in and around Washington, D.C. His attachment to music was so strong that in 1916 he turned down an art scholarship to the [[Pratt Institute]] in [[Brooklyn]]. Three months before graduating, he dropped out of Armstrong Manual Training School, where he was studying commercial art.<ref name= "Simmonds">{{cite news |url= http://www.lasentinel.net/Duke-Ellington.html| title=Duke Ellington |last= Simmonds |first=Yussuf|date=September 11, 2008 |work=[[Los Angeles Sentinel]] |access-date= July 14, 2009}}</ref>