Cal Collins
Calvin "Cal" Collins ( born May 5, 1933, Medora, Indiana; † August 27, 2001 in Dillsboro, Indiana) was an American jazz guitarist.
Cal Collins was initially influenced by bluegrass and country music, and first played in the early 1950s mandolin before he turned to jazz under the influence of the music of Nat King Cole, George Shearing, Art Tatum, Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian. After completing his military service, he moved to Cincinnati, where he began playing as a jazz guitarist and appeared in the next few decades, especially in Indiana and Ohio. From 1976 he was a member of three years the band of Benny Goodman. From the late 1970s, Collins regularly took on his own for Concord Jazz; he worked with as a house guitarist on numerous publications of the label. Collins played with Marshall Royal, Rosemary Clooney, Monty Budwig, Jeff Hamilton, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, Buddy Tate, Scott Hamilton, Warren Vache, Nat Pierce and Jake Hanna. In 1993 he went with Doc Watson, Jerry Douglas and Cephas & Wiggins as part of the Masters of the Steel String Guitar on tour. In his later years he has predominantly been on in Cincinnati; he died in 2001 from liver failure.