0
Mezz Mezzrow
Mezz Mezzrow
American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist
1
Zutty Singleton
Zutty Singleton
American jazz drummer
2
Danny Barker
Danny Barker
American jazz musician
3
Tommy Ladnier
Tommy Ladnier
Jazz cornetist/trumpeter
4
Art Hodes
Art Hodes
American musician
5
Baby Dodds
Baby Dodds
American musician
6
Al Morgan
Al Morgan
American musician
7
Albert Nicholas
Albert Nicholas
American musician
8
Elmer James
Elmer James
American musician
9
Pops Foster
Pops Foster
American musician
10
Bix Beiderbecke
Bix Beiderbecke
American jazz musician
11
Russell Moore
Russell Moore
Pima jazz musician
12
Kid Ory
Kid Ory
American jazz trombonist
13
Bud Scott
Bud Scott
American jazz guitarist, banjoist and singer
14
Roy Palmer
Roy Palmer
American musician
15
Peanuts Holland
Peanuts Holland
American musician
16
Jack Teagarden
Jack Teagarden
American jazz musician
17
Kaiser Marshall
Kaiser Marshall
American musician
18
King Oliver
King Oliver
American jazz cornet player and bandleader
19
Wallace Davenport
Wallace Davenport
American musician
20
William Manuel Johnson
William Manuel Johnson
American double bassist
21
Johnny Dodds
Johnny Dodds
American jazz clarinetist and alto saxophonist
22
Max Jones
Max Jones
British jazz author, radio host, and journalist
23
Freddie Keppard
Freddie Keppard
American jazz musician
24
Sid Catlett
Sid Catlett
American musician
25
Jimmie Noone
Jimmie Noone
American musician
26
Hot Lips Page
Hot Lips Page
American jazz musician
27
Buck Clayton
Buck Clayton
American jazz trumpeter
28
Bob Wilber
Bob Wilber
jazz clarinetist, composer and saxophonist from United States
29
Edmond Hall
Edmond Hall
American jazz clarinetist
30
Joe Robichaux
Joe Robichaux
American musician
31
Cozy Cole
Cozy Cole
American musician
32
Wilson Myers
Wilson Myers
American musician
33
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
American jazz trumpeter, composer and singer
34
Sidney Bechet
Sidney Bechet
American jazz musician
35
Jelly Roll Morton
Jelly Roll Morton
American ragtime and jazz pianist, bandleader and composer
36
Bernard Addison
Bernard Addison
American jazz guitarist
37
Cousin Joe
Cousin Joe
American blues and jazz singer
38
Bob Scobey
Bob Scobey
American musician
39
Dave Tough
Dave Tough
American drummer
40
Red Allen
Red Allen
American jazz musician, band leader
41
Earl Hines
Earl Hines
American jazz pianist
42
Doc Cheatham
Doc Cheatham
American jazz trumpeter, singer, and bandleader
43
Kid Rena
Kid Rena
American musician
44
Jabbo Smith
Jabbo Smith
American musician
45
Charlie Shavers
Charlie Shavers
jazz trumpeter
46
Fletcher Henderson
Fletcher Henderson
American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer
47
Kansas Fields
Kansas Fields
American musician
48
Matthew Gee
Matthew Gee
American musician
49
Omer Simeon
Omer Simeon
American musician
50
Bob Greene
Bob Greene
American pianist
51
Knocky Parker
Knocky Parker
American musician
52
Ernie Royal
Ernie Royal
American jazz trumpeter
53
Bubber Miley
Bubber Miley
American jazz trumpet and cornet player, composer
54
Manzie Johnson
Manzie Johnson
American jazz drummer
55
Guy Lafitte
Guy Lafitte
French musician
56
Wingy Manone
Wingy Manone
American musician
Lee Collins
American musician

Lee Collins

Intro
American musician
Genres
Music

Leeds "Lee" Collins (October 17, 1901 – July 3, 1960) was an American jazz trumpeter.

Collins was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. As a teenager, he played in brass bands, including the Young Eagles, the Columbia Band, and the Tuxedo Brass Band. In the 1910s, he played in New Orleans alongside Louis Armstrong, Papa Celestin, and Zutty Singleton. He moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1924, where he replaced Louis Armstrong in King Oliver's band. He also played with Jelly Roll Morton, but the two had disagreements and fell out when Collins claimed that Morton stole the song "Fish Tail Blues" from him. Collins returned to New Orleans, where he played on the recordings of the Jones & Collins Astoria Hot Eight in 1929. He then played in New York City with Luis Russell in 1930. He went back to Chicago, where he played with Dave Peyton (1930), the Chicago Ramblers (1932), Johnny Dodds and Baby Dodds, Zutty Singleton, Mezz Mezzrow, Lovie Austin, and Jimmy Bertrand (1945).

Collins played in Chicago through the 1930s and 1940s as an accompanist to many blues singers and in nightclubs. After 1945, he led his own band at the Victory Club, on Clark Street in Chicago, and gigged with Bertha Hill (1946), Kid Ory (1948), and Art Hodes (1950–1951). He played in Europe with Mezz Mezzrow in 1951 and 1954 and in California with Joe Sullivan in 1953. In the mid-1950s he retired because of illness.

Collins wrote an autobiography, Oh, Didn't He Ramble, with the aid of his wife, Mary, which was originally published in 1974.

Collins died in Chicago in July 1960, at the age of 58.