 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).