Dick Collins

Richard Harrison Collins (July 19, 1924 – April 19, 2016) was an American jazz trumpeter.

Collins was born in Seattle on July 19, 1914. Several of his parents and grandparents were professional musicians. Collins attended Mills College in 1946–47, where he studied music formally under Darius Milhaud, and moved with Milhaud to Paris for the next academic year. As a student at Mills, he first met Dave Brubeck, and while in Paris he played with Hubert Fol and Kenny Clarke. Once he returned to California, he began playing with Brubeck in his Bay Area-based octet, then completed his bachelor's degree in music at San Francisco State College. In the 1950s he performed and recorded with Charlie Barnet, Charlie Mariano, Nat Pierce, Paul Desmond, Cal Tjader, and Woody Herman. In 1957 he began working with Les Brown, an association that continued for nearly a decade and included worldwide tours.

In 1965, Collins took a position as a music librarian, which he held through 1967, and took a second position from 1971 to 1986, mostly receding from active performance. In later years, he still occasionally performed live or recorded, including with Nat Pierce, Mary Ann McCall, and Woody Herman. He died in Hesperia, California on April 19, 2016, at the age of 91.

Birth and Death Data: Born July 19, 1924 (Seattle), Died April 19, 2016 (Hesperia)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1959

Roles Represented in DAHR: trumpet

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 1-25 of 30 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Decca L 11339 1/21/1959 Moten swing-2 Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11340 1/21/1959 Lean baby-3 Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11341 1/21/1959 Lullaby of Birdland-1 Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11342 1/21/1959 Just in time-2 Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11343 1/21/1959 I want to be happy-1 Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11344 1/22/1959 Pick yourself up-2 Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11345 1/22/1959 Early Autumn-2 Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11346 1/22/1959 How high the moon-1 Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11347 1/22/1959 I'm beginning to see the light-2 Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11348 1/23/1959 King Porter stomp-1 Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11349 1/23/1959 Take the A train-2 Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11350 1/23/1959 Swing book blues-2 Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11351 1/23/1959 Boola boola Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11352 1/23/1959 Say it with music Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11404 3/5/1959 Sorta blue Pam Garner ; Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11405 3/5/1959 Brief and breezy Pam Garner ; Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11406 3/5/1959 Soft sounds Pam Garner ; Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11407 3/5/1959 The Thin Man theme Pam Garner ; Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11434 3/19/1959 King Philip stomp-2 Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11435 3/19/1959 Chelsea bridge-1 Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11436 3/19/1959 Don't get around much anymore-3 Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11437 3/19/1959 Pizza boy-3 Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11451 3/30/1959 I only have eyes for you-1 Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11452 3/30/1959 Let's get away from it all-3 Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
Decca L 11453 3/30/1959 Willow weep for me-3 Les Brown and his Band of Renown instrumentalist, trumpet  
(Results 1-25 of 30 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Collins, Dick," accessed March 28, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/309173.

Collins, Dick. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved March 28, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/309173.

"Collins, Dick." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 28 March 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/309173

Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license

Feedback

Send the Editors a message about this record.