While teenagers across the country had their eyes peeled and their ears perked to see if Cardi B, Drake, or H.E.R., would win an award, or to hear Lady Gaga, Post Malone, or Janelle Monae perform at the Grammy Awards, there are at least a couple dozen who knew the soon-to-be-79-year-old man who briefly joined host Alicia Keys for a ultra-quick duet on stage.
What teenagers would recognize Smokey Robinson, you say? The music students at Deptford Township High School, that’s who. They can even claim to know Smokey Robinson, at least through the transitive property.
Before Christmas, Carl Cox, a Deptford alum and the school’s current director of jazz, shared a video of himself interviewing Robinson after they played a show together.
In the video, Robinson offers some tips to the audience: Deptford students who are also aspiring musicians. For the more sports-minded teenagers, this would be like your varsity baseball coach tracking down Hank Aaron to record a personalized video for your team.
“It’s pretty impressive,” Deptford Township High School principal Jeff Lebb said. “Just to have someone like that, who is as famous as Smokey Robinson is in the music world. (Carl) is the man. I don’t know how else to put it – he’s the man.”
Cox, a 1996 Deptford grad who matriculated at the University of the Arts before starting a career that’s seen him rub musical elbows with everyone from Robinson to the Roots, Boyz II Men to Will Smith and Jay-Z, has been giving back to his alma mater for 15 years as a member of the faculty. After the holidays, he was surprised by his fellow teachers, administrators, and his wife when he was notified he had been selected as the 2018-19 Deptford Township High School Teacher of the Year.
“I think living here all of my life, and being an alumni, I always wanted to make this the strongest program I could, because I went here,” Cox said of his esteemed music program at Deptford. “I think that’s why a lot of people come back, they like the community, they want to be involved and make it the best that they can. There are so many alumni that teach here, and at the elementary schools and the middle school. It’s kind of refreshing to see that. That’s my thing – I want to make sure Deptford is on the map, so to speak.”
One of the ways Cox is keeping Deptford’s name on the musical map is by taking the high school jazz band to the Berklee College of Music’s Jazz Festival. The weekend trip to Boston has been a staple in Cox’s schedule for seven years (the Spartans finished first in their division in four of those seven years).
This year’s band, the 22 kids included a majority of younger and first-year students, placed fourth last month.
“And now they know (what to expect),” said Cox, who is helping organize a festival closer to home next year. “There has to be a dedication, time management, and making sure you’re pursuing excellence. They’ve got to pursue excellence, they can’t just come to do it and think they’ll do this – they have to want to do this. And they can use that for any outlet. Even if you don’t go to school for music, this is an attitude, for everything you do. Showing you how to work as a team. You’re only as strong as your weakest link. And you don’t want to be that. If you’re going to get a job, it’s the same thing.”
Cox, a saxophone player who has recorded or played with the likes of the aforementioned Robinson, Jay-Z, Smith, and others, a long list that also includes Salt-n-Pepa, Jill Scott and Mary J. Blige, is also among the group of educators at Deptford that is preparing for a new venture for the 2019-20 school year. In September, the first classes for the Deptford Township High School Music Academy will be held. (The school district is also beginning an Engineering Academy.)
“I think just like any other academy, we’re trying to keep up with the way our educational times are changing, and there are a lot of kids that want to focus on different things, whether it’s business, biomedical engineering, and other things,” Lebb said. “And there are kids that want that track with music, so if we can provide that and give them experience, then we should do it. We’re trying to meet the needs of as many students as we possibly can.”
“So if they want to come to the academy, they can, they just have to apply,” Cox said. “We came up with a track. Rather than a student just taking jazz band all four years, they now have to take, Basic Introduction to Piano and a class, they have to take music theory and a class, they have to take choir for a year … they have to do a senior recital like you would in college. …. And the window just opens up, it prepares them for the first year in college.”
Having someone like Cox to help open the Academy is obviously a boost to Deptford High. Because not only is he a successful alum with a strong academic prowess, but he also has real-world musical experience to aid his teaching. You want to keep the attention of some teenagers? Tell them your Beyonce and Jay-Z story.
“I think playing with Jay-Z was probably one of my coolest experiences,” Cox said of a show in Vegas 10 to 12 years ago. “And he had Nike make us specific shoes for the concert. So I have them. I never wear them. But it’s pretty cool. The kids never believe me, (they’re all) ‘Yeah, right.’”
