Clarence Acox is an American band director and jazz drummer. He is a native of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, and has been heard in a variety of settings in the Pacific Northwest. He is the former director of jazz bands at Garfield High School,Garfield High School Jazz: Clarence Acox Jr.
, Garfield High School. Accessed online 2 February 2009. where he has taught since arriving from

Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in Louisiana, a ...

in Baton Rouge in 1971, initially hired to rejuvenate the school's

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, ofte ...

s.Steve Wiecking, "Clarence Acox Jr.", ''Seattle Metropolitan'', December 2008, p. 62.Rebekah Denn
Meet conductor Clarence Acox
''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', May 15, 2000. Accessed online 2 February 2009. Under his tutelage since 1979, the Garfield Jazz Ensemble has won every major competition on the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

, including competitions in

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

, and Washington. He retired from Garfield High School in June, 2019. Acox was named Educator of the Year by ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' magazine in 2001.Jazz Journalists Association
/ref> 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 Gregory J. Nickels (born August 7, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 51st mayor of Seattle, Washington. He took office on January 1, 2002 and was reelected to a second term in 2005. In August 2009, Nickels finished third in the p ...

. In 2008 ''

Seattle Metropolitan ''Seattle Metropolitan'', or ''Seattle Met'', is a monthly city magazine covering Seattle, Washington. Its first issue was published in March 2006, and features reporting and feature articles on Seattle events, politics, people, dining and restaura ...

'' 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. In May 2016 Acox was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Cornish College of the Arts. 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 drum style also drives the

Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, which he co-founded in 1995 with

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

instructor Michael Brockman.Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra
, Artistic directors

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acox, Clarence Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American drummers American jazz drummers African-American schoolteachers Schoolteachers from Washington (state) Southern University alumni Musicians from Seattle Jazz musicians from New Orleans 21st-century American drummers African-American drummers American male drummers Educators from Louisiana 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians