Effective period / Period of releases: 1927 - 1984

Members: Red Nichols, Jimmy Dorsey, Eddie Lang, Adrian Rollini, Arthur Schutt, Bobby Jones (2), Mike Bryan, Harry Yaeger, Billy Maxted, Frank Ray, Billy Sheperd, Vic Berton, Leo McConville, Paul Collins (6)

Red Nichols and his Five Pennies were one of the most popular bands of the New York Jazz scene of the 1920s. They recorded under a variety of different names, including the Arkansas Travelers, The Red Heads, the Louisiana Rhythm Kings, The Charleston Chasers, The Six Hottentots, The Hottentots and Miff Mole and his Little Molers. The band's style was often called "Chamber Jazz" by critics and for what it lacked in hot intensity it made up for with a cool somewhat detached, yet urban and sophisticated sound. In 1959 Hollywood made a highly fictionalized movie about the band called "The Five Pennies", starring Danny Kaye as Red Nichols.