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Alvin "Al" Joseph Downing was the founder of the Al Downing Tampa Bay Jazz Association. An influential jazz musician and teacher, Downing made significant contributions to the African-American jazz community in Florida. He was a member of the Tuskegee Airmen and became the first African-American Commissioner of the St. Petersburg Housing Authority in Florida, as well as the first African American to play in the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra. == Early life == Downing was born in 1916 in Jacksonville, Florida, the middle child of Ernest & Mary Downing. His father, a railroad porter and street musician, and his mother, a seamstress, adhered to their idea of the American dream and pushed for the best life they could provide for their family, developing a close kinship with one another and a high reverence for the Baptist faith. He had an affinity and curiosity for music from a very young age. His relationship with the piano that later led to his love of jazz developed when his cousin, who had been taking piano lessons, convinced him to practice the piano in her place. After his parents discovered the switch, they acquired a piano and arranged lessons for him at the age of five. Downing continued his lessons throughout elementary and middle school, and in the beginning of his high school years he organized his first band, The Ten Clouds of Joy. After graduating from high school, he chose to attend Alabama State College, later transferring to Florida Agricultural & Mechanical College where he met his future wife Bernice "Bunny" Gause. After graduating from college, Downing moved to St. Petersburg Florida where he began his teaching career at Gibbs High School, the African American high school of the community. Downing taught at Gibbs for three years before he was drafted into the United States Army Air Force (USAAF), the United States' aviation appendage during World War II. Downing continued to play the piano throughout his lifetime up until dying of heart failure in 2000. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Alvin Joseph Downing」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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