CITY OF SEATTLE
RESOLUTION __________________
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A RESOLUTION providing an honorary designation of S Hill Street between 21st and 22nd Avenues S as “Clarence Acox Jr. Way.”
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WHEREAS, for nearly 50 years, since 1971, Clarence Acox Jr. has helped develop the talents of hundreds of young Seattle musicians as director of Garfield High School’s internationally renowned Jazz Ensemble, director of all band programs at Garfield and, more recently, as a founding educator of Seattle’s JazzED program; and
WHEREAS, under Mr. Acox’s direction, the Garfield Jazz Ensemble took first place in 2003, 2004, 2009 and 2010 at New York’s Essentially Ellington National Jazz Band Competition and Festival at New York City’s Lincoln Center, has swept every major competition on the West Coast, including the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Moscow, Idaho, and Oregon’s Mt. Hood Jazz Festival; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Acox has also directed the Seattle University Jazz Ensemble, co-founded the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra in 1995 and himself performed for decades as a drummer with the Floyd Standifer Quartet, as well as with the Clarence Acox Quintet and numerous other musical endeavors; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Acox has won numerous awards including Earshot Jazz’s “Musician of the Year” in 1991, “Educator of the Year” by Down Beat Magazine in 2002, the Seattle Music Educator’s Association “Outstanding Music Educator” in 2004, and the Mayor’s Arts Awards in 2007, and is a 1994 inductee into the Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Acox helped bring jazz education to an even greater population of young players across the Puget Sound region by co-founding JazzED in 2010; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEATTLE, THE MAYOR CONCURRING, THAT:
Section 1. S Hill Street between 21st Avenue S and 22nd Avenue S shall have an honorary designation as “Clarence Acox Jr. Way.”
Section 2. The City Council requests that the Seattle Department of Transportation manufacture, install, and maintain an honorary sign at a prominent and appropriate location, which shall reflect the “Clarence Acox Jr. Way” honorary designation.
Adopted by the City Council the ________ day of _________________________, 2021, and signed by me in open session in authentication of its adoption this ________ day of _________________________, 2021.
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President ____________ of the City Council
The Mayor concurred the ________ day of _________________________, 2021.
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Jenny A. Durkan, Mayor
Filed by me this ________ day of _________________________, 2021.
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Monica Martinez Simmons, City Clerk
(Seal)