Shad Collins was born Lester Rallingston Collins on June 27, 1910 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He learned to play the trumpet and acquired the nickname Shad in his teens. The late 1920s saw him joining Charlie Dixon's band and performing with pianist Eddie White before joining Chick Webb's band in 1931. In the mid 1930s he played and toured Britain and Europe with Teddy Hill and then joined the Count Basie Orchestra.

Collins performed in Basie's band at the From Spirituals to Swing concerts in New York City in 1938 and 1939. By the…