Phantom Regiment is pleased to announce the addition of Dr. Cameron “Chip” Crotts to the brass staff.
Dr. Crotts is currently the Director of Jazz Studies and Assistant Professor of Trumpet at the Jacksonville State University in Alabama. For the past few years, he has been the Brass Caption Head at the Spirit of JSU Drum and Bugle Corps. Chip will join brass arranger, J.D. Shaw, in the position co-caption head and will be a welcome addition to the strong tradition of musical excellence that Phantom Regiment has maintained in the DCI realm.
As a clinician and educator, Dr. Crotts has worked with many high school and college groups throughout Texas and the Southeast. He is an adjudicator for Bands of America and has judged numerous jazz festivals, solo and marching competitions. Chip is also active in the drum corps community, where he marched with the Phantom Regiment and Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps.
Chip has been an on-call trumpet artist for the Disney Company and has performed and recorded throughout the US and Europe. In addition, Crotts has toured and performed with artists such as Rhythm and Brass, Ray Charles, The Manhattan Transfer and Maynard Ferguson. Chip is in frequent demand as a freelance musician throughout the Southeast and is a first call player for national touring companies and artists.
Dr. Crotts received a Bachelor of Music Business degree from East Carolina University and a Master of Music in Trumpet Performance from Penn State University. Recently, he completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Trumpet Performance and Jazz Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. His primary teachers have included Ray Crisara, Ray Sasaki, John Daniel, Tom Huener and John Almeida. Chip has also performed in masterclasses and studied privately with Roger Ingram, Armando Ghitalla, Doc Severinsen and Boyde Hood.
Chip currently performs with groups such as the Huntsville Symphony, Jacksonville Brass Quintet, SuperJazz Big Band and the Night Flight Big Band. He is also an associate member of The Tuscaloosa Horns, with whom he performs regularly with artists such as the Temptations, Four Tops, OJ’s, and Mary Wilson and the Supremes.
