As a teenager, Lee Collins started playing the trumpet in New Orleans brass bands. He was a member of Pops Foster’s Young Eagles and other local orchestras. After Armstrong left to join Fletcher Henderson, New York in 1924, he moved North to take the place of Louis Armstrong in King Olivers Creole Jazz Band. Collins recorded an early session with Jelly Roll Morton’s Kings of Jazz while he was in Chicago. Collins was a close friend to Jelly Roll. However, the two men had a fall out when Collins claimed Morton stole “Fish Tail Blues”. Collins was a trumpet player in Luis Russell’s Orchestra. He only stayed six months. After that, he returned to Chicago and moved back to New Orleans, where he then returned to Chicago. He was a trumpet player on many Blues records, supporting singers such as Chippie Hill, Lil Johnson, and Victoria Spivey. Collins was a part of the Dixieland revival in the 1940s and toured with Mezz Mezzrow. from http://www.redhotjazz.com
