The Original Indiana Five were not from Indiana. Their name was an apparent attempt to sound like other bands of the day that had names like the Original Memphis Five and the Original New Orleans Jazz Band.

The band played mainly in New York City and were broadcast on the radio. They were active from sometime in the late teens or early 1920s to 1929. They also recorded under the name of John Sylvester and his Orchestra. The group got back together in 1948 and played in New York until sometime in the early 1950s.

Thanks to Scott and Mark of Vintage Music Company and James Gallup, for their help with the recordings on this page.

Title	Recording Date	Recording Location	Company
All Over Nothing At All (James Rule)	1923	Long Island City, New York	La Belle 1511 (Benny Davis and the Indiana Syncopators)
Back O’Town Blues (Bowen / Berbedeaux)	1-2-1924	New York, New York	Pathe Actuelle
Bebe (Silver)	5-1-1923	Long Island City, New York	Olympic 1444-B
Beside A Babbling Brook (Walter Donaldson)	5-1-1923	Long Island City, New York	Olympic 1444-A
Brown Pepper (Harry Barris)	11-1-1926	New York, New York	National Music Lovers 1186
Brown Sugar (Harry Barris)	11-1-1926	New York, New York	Emerson
Can You Picture That? (E. Dolan)	10-1-1926	New York, New York	Emerson 3069
Clementine (From New Orleans) (Harry Warren / Harry Creamer)	9-28-1927	New York, New York	Harmony 510-H
Coffee Pot Blues (Original Indiana Five)	1-2-1927	New York, New York	Regal 8248 Banner 1931-B
Cow Bell Blues	10-1-1926	New York, New York	National Music Lovers 1191
Croonin’ A Tune (Weill / Fain / McHugh)	7-14-1925	New York, New York	Gennett 3106-A
Cuckoo (Reitz)	6-19-1925	New York, New York	Gennett 3083-B
Deep Henderson (Fred Rose)	5-18-1926	New York, New York	Harmony
Delilah (Rose / Fisher)	12-24-1926	New York, New York	Harmony
Everybody Stomp (Elmer Schoebel / Billy Meyers)	10-13-1925	New York, New York	Harmony 47-H
Everybody Stomp (Elmer Schoebel / Billy Meyers)	11-6-1925	New York, New York	Gennett 3181-B
Everybody’s Doin’ The Charleston Now (White / Cecil Mack / James P. Johnson)	10-27-1925	New York, New York	Harmony
Everybody’s Doin’ The Charleston Now (White / Cecil Mack / James P. Johnson)	11-6-1925	New York, New York	Gennett 3182-A
Everything Is Hotsy-Totsy Now (Jimmy McHugh / Dorothy Fields / Irving Mills)	5-1-1925	New York, New York	Gennett 3060
Fallen Arches (Ponce / Van Loan)	12-5-1925	New York, New York	Gennett 3230-B
Florida Low Down (Coots / Trent / Fats Waller)	4-9-1926	New York, New York	Harmony 267-H
Gettin’ The Blues (E. Dolan)	10-1-1926	New York, New York	Bell 445-B
Hangin’ Around (Gardener / Hamm / Harris)	4-9-1926	New York, New York	Harmony 267-H
Hard-To-Get Gertie (Jack Yellen / Milton Ager)	3-1-1926	New York, New York	Pathe Actuelle 36428 B Perfect 14609 B
Hard-To-Get Gertie (Jack Yellen / Milton Ager)	3-30-1926	New York, New York	Cameo 924
Hard-To-Get Gertie (Jack Yellen / Milton Ager)	4-7-1926	New York, New York	OKeh 40599
Heebie Jeebies (Boyd Atkins / Jones)	10-1-1926	New York, New York	Bell 456-B
I’d Leave Ten Men Like Yours To Love One Man Like Mine (Bloom / Farrar)	5-18-1926	New York, New York	Harmony
I’d Rather Be Alone (Just Thinking Of You) (Jack Yellen / Milton Ager)	1-13-1926	New York, New York	Harmony
I’d Rather Be Alone (Just Thinking Of You) (Jack Yellen / Milton Ager)	1-14-1926	New York, New York	Pathe Actuelle 36377 Perfect 14558
I’m Coming, Virginia (Marion Cook / Donald Heywood)	9-28-1927	New York, New York	Harmony
I’m Goin’ Out If Lizzie Comes In (Buddy De Sylva / Lew Brown / Ray Henderson)	9-21-1925	New York, New York	Gennett 3148-B Silvertone 4002-B
I’m Gonna Hang Around My Sugar (Jack Palmer / Spencer Williams)	10-8-1925	New York, New York	Gennett 3166
I’m Gonna Hang Around My Sugar (Jack Palmer / Spencer Williams)	10-13-1925	New York, New York	Harmony 47-H
Indiana Shuffle (Original Indiana Five)	1-2-1927	New York, New York	Oriole 819 Banner 1931-A
Indiana Stomp (Original Indiana Five)	7-14-1925	New York, New York	Champion 15008-B
Indiana Stomp (Original Indiana Five)	9-2-1925	New York, New York	Okeh 40456
Jackass Blues (Art Kassel / Mel Stitzel)	10-1-1926	New York, New York	Bell 445-A
Jubilee Blues (Abrahams)	1-2-1924	New York, New York	Pathe Actuelle
Lo-Nah (Stept / Green)	1-14-1926	New York, New York	Pathe Actuelle Perfect 14560
Lady Lou (Berwick)	4-1926	New York, New York	Grey Gull
Louisville Lou (Milton Ager / Jack Yellen)	4-1-1923	Long Island City, New York	Olympic (Original Indiana Syncopators)
Low-Down Sawed-Off Blues (Henderson / Mace)	3-1-1927	New York, New York	Bell 547-B
Mean, Mean Mama (Young / Squires)	9-7-1923	New York, New York	Pathe Actuelle 021070 A
Melancholy Lou (Ray Hibbler)	10-8-1925	New York, New York	Gennett 3166
Memphis Blues (W.C. Handy)	1-15-1927	New York, New York	Emerson
Memphis Blues (W.C. Handy)	4-1-1927	New York, New York	Cameo
Moten Stomp (Bennie Moten)	2-17-1928	New York, New York	Banner 7084 Regal 8592-B
My Baby Knows How (Davis / Akst / Richman)	10-1-1926	New York, New York	Bell 456-A
My Melancholy Baby (Norman / Burnett)	7-19-1927	New York, New York	Banner
My Own Blues (Berwick)	4-30-1926	New York, New York	Grey Gull 1332 (Original Dixie Rag Pickers)
No Man’s Mama (Yellen-Pollack)	11-6-1925	New York, New York	Gennett 3183
Nobody’s Sweetheart (Gus Kahn / Ernie Erdman / Billy Meyers)	2-28-1928	New York, New York	Cameo
Oh! Boy, What A Girl	8-13-1925	New York, New York	Gennett
Oh! Boy, What A Girl (Wright / Bessinger)	9-2-1925	New York, New York	Okeh 40456
One Sweet Letter From You (Warren / Brown / Clare)	5-26-1927	New York, New York	Harmony
Pensacola (Rose)	12-5-1925	New York, New York	Gennett
Pensacola (Rose)	1-13-1926	New York, New York	Cameo 924
Pensacola (Rose)	1-13-1926	New York, New York	Harmony
Pensacola (Rose)	4-7-1926	New York, New York	OKeh 40599
Play It, Red (Harry Barris)		New York, New York	Harmony
Pretty Puppy (Conrad / Bernie)	8-19-1925	New York, New York	Gennett 3153-A
Rarin’ To Go (Indiana Five)	7-19-1927	New York, New York	Banner
Red-Hot Henry Brown (Fred Rose)	7-14-1925	New York, New York	Gennett 3112 Champion 15008-A
Running After You (Bibo / Johnson)	1-13-1926	New York, New York	Harmony
Say, Arabella (Kahn / Fiorito)	6-19-1925	New York, New York	Gennett 3083-A
Seminola (Harry Warren / Robert King)	5-1-1925	New York, New York	Gennett 3060
Siberia (Ponce / Van Loan)	9-21-1925	New York, New York	Gennett 3150-A
Sittin’ Around (Kahn / Sanders)	3-1-1926	New York, New York	Pathe Actuelle Perfect 14601
Slow Poke (Fagin / Gold)	4-1-1923	Long Island City, New York	Olympic (Original Indiana Syncopators)
So Is Your Old Lady (Burke / Dubin)	4-9-1926	New York, New York	Harmony 179-H
Some Of These Days (Shelton Brooks)	4-1-1927	New York, New York	Cameo
Some Of These Days (Shelton Brooks)	5-1-1927	New York, New York	Banner
Somebody’s Making A Fuss Over Somebody (Howard)	2-17-1928	New York, New York	Banner
Someday, Sweetheart (Bejamin Spikes / John Spikes / Jellyroll Morton)	9-28-1927	New York, New York	Harmony
Someone Waits For Me (Chelsey)	4-1926	New York, New York	Grey Gull
Spanish Mama (Elmer Schoebel / Billy Meyers)	5-18-1926	New York, New York	Harmony
St. Louis Blues (W.C. Handy)	1-15-1927	New York, New York	Emerson 3119
St. Louis Gal (J. Russel Robinson)	11-6-1923	New York, New York	Pathe Actuelle Perfect 14200-B
Stavin’ Change (The Meanest Man In New Orleans) (Al Bernard)	9-7-1923	New York, New York	Pathe Actuelle 021070 B
Stockholm Stomp (Al Goering / Jack Pettis)	12-24-1926	New York, New York	Harmony
Struttin’ Jerry (H. Ford)	5-1-1927	New York, New York	Banner
Struttin’ Jerry (Harry Ford – Indiana Five)	5-26-1927	New York, New York	Banner 6023-B
Sugar (Mitchell / Alexander / Pinkard)	5-1-1927	New York, New York	Banner
Sweet Georgia Brown (Maceo Pinkard / Kenneth Casey / Ben Bernie)	5-1-1925	New York, New York	Gennett 3059-B
(Take ‘Em To The Door) That’s All There Is (There Ain’t No More) (Rose / Davis / Henderson)	9-21-1925	New York, New York	Gennett 3150-B
The Chant (Mel Stitzel)	12-24-1926	New York, New York	Harmony
The Crawl (Original Indiana Five)	1-2-1927	New York, New York	Jewel 5002
The Junk Man’s Dream (Ford)	1-13-1928	New York, New York	Harmony 632-H
The Lighthouse Blues (Schuster / Schuster / Yellman)	7-19-1927	New York, New York	Banner 6028
There Ain’t No Maybe In My Baby’s Eyes (Kahn / Egan / Donaldson)	11-1-1926	New York, New York	Bell 463-B
Thrown Down Blues (Frank Signorelli)	1-15-1927	New York, New York	Emerson 3119
Tin Roof Blues (New Orleans Rhythm Kings)	11-6-1923	New York, New York	Pathe Actuelle Perfect 14200-A
Too Bad (Elmer Schoebel / Billy Meyers)	3-1-1926	New York, New York	Pathe Actuelle Perfect 14601
Two Tired Eyes (Davis / Richman / Meyer)	6-19-1925	New York, New York	Gennett 3093-B
Two-Time Dan (Turk / Robinson)	5-1-1923	Long Island City, New York	Olympic 1443-B
What Can A Poor Fellow Do? (Elmer Schoebel / Billy Meyers)	1-13-1928	New York, New York	Harmony 632-H
When You Walked Out (Someone Else Walked Right In) (Irving Berlin)	5-1-1923	Long Island City, New York	Olympic
Where Will I Be? (Coots / Tortomas / Ford)	2-17-1928	New York, New York	Banner 7057-B
Where Will I Be? (Coots / Tortomas / Ford)	2-28-1928	New York, New York	Cameo

Artist	Instrument
James Christie	Trumpet
Tony Colucci	Banjo
Johnny Costello	Clarinet
Peter Dale	Vocal
Newman Fier	Piano, Director
Harry Ford	Piano, Director
Vincent Grande	Trombone
Tom Morton	Drums, Kazoo, Vocal, Director
Tony Pace	Vocal
Charles Panelli	Trombone
Pete Pelizzi	Trombone
Johnny Sylvester	Trumpet
Tony Tortomas	Trumpet
Nick Vitalo	Clarinet, Alto Saxophone