Clarence Acox
Clarence Acox, Jr. is a band director and jazz drummer. He is a native
of New Orleans, and has been heard in a variety of settings in the
Pacific Northwest. He is Director of Jazz Bands at Garfield High
School, where he has taught since arriving from Southern University in
New Orleans in 1971, initially hired to rejuvenate the school's
marching bands. Under his tutelage since 1979, the Garfield Jazz
Ensemble has won every major competition on the West Coast, including
competitions in Nevada, California, Oregon, Idaho, and Washington. The
Jazz Ensemble has made ten European tours, performing at the Montreux
Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the North Sea Jazz Festival in the
Netherlands, Jazz á Vienne in France, and the Umbria Jazz Festival in
Italy, as well as many concerts in Paris, and Innsbruck, Austria. The
band has also been a finalist in the Essentially Ellington High School
Jazz Band Competition and Festival held at Lincoln Center in New York
City for eight successive years as of 2008. The Jazz Ensemble won the
Second Place Trophy at the Ellington Festival in 2002 and 2008 and the
First Place Trophy in 2003 and 2004, as well as 2009 and 2010, making
it the only group in the history of the competition to accomplish this
feat four times. Rival Roosevelt High School has won three
competitions. Acox was named Educator of the Year by Down Beat magazine
in 2001. In 2003 he was presented the Impact Award by the National
Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the organization that sponsors
the Grammy Awards. In 2004 the Seattle Music Educators Association
recognized him as its Outstanding Music Educator. In 2007 he was
presented the Mayor's Arts Award by Seattle mayor Greg Nickels. In 2008
Seattle Metropolitan magazine named him one of the 50 most influential
musicians in the history of Seattle music. In 2010, he and Roosevelt
High School's Scott Brown shared the Impact Award at Seattle's second
annual City of Music Awards. Acox is a regular on the club scene in the
Seattle area. He has performed with the Floyd Standifer Quartet (now
Legacy Quartet) at the New Orleans Creole Restaurant since 1986. His
powerful and swinging drum style also drives the Seattle Repertory Jazz
Orchestra, which he co-founded in 1995 with University of Washington
saxophone instructor Michael Brockman. Awards and recognitions 1991 -
Musician of the year presented by Earshot Jazz Society 1994 - Inducted
into the Earshot Jazz Society Seattle "Hall of Fame" 2001 - Educator of
the year presented by Downbeat Magazine 2003 - Impact award recipient
presented by The Recording Academy 2004 - "Outstanding Music Educator"
award presented by Seattle Music Educators Association 2007 - Mayor's
Arts Award presented by Seattle Mayor Gregory Nickels 2008 - Named one
of the 50 most influential musicians in Seattle music by Seattle
Metropolitan Magazine 2010 - Contribution To The Community award by
Inside Out 2010 - Impact Award presented by City of Seattle 2011 -
Inducted into the WIAA (Washington Interscholastic Activities
Association) Hall of Fame 2011 - Outstanding Achievement In The Arts
award by Artsfund