I'm in agreement with the positive statements above - I really dig Red Nichols and have heard most of the recordings mentioned above. The arranged segments seem pretty advanced for the time.
On a humorous note - Red seems not to have been too popular with the Condon crew.
Eddie sends several barbs Red's way in his autobiography "We Called It Music" and Max Kaminsky, while less sarcastic than Eddie, doesn't speak too favorably of Red. The general feeling I get is one a lot of musicians can identify with. They were the guys in the band (and somewhat wild) and Red, in their eyes, was a prick band leader.