Although his name is now quite obscure, Clyde Hurley took a trumpet solo that has been heard dozens of times by the average American; the familiar chorus on Glenn Miller's "In the Mood." Hurley originally taught himself to play by soloing along with Louis Armstrong records. He started out working with territory bands and then was discovered by Ben Pollack (who was traveling through Texas) in 1937. After a year with Pollack, Hurley settled in Los Angeles to become a studio musician. However, Glenn Miller signed him up in 1939 and, during his year with Miller, Hurley was a key soloist as can be heard on the bandleader's Carnegie Hall concert and his studio recordings. The trumpeter spent time in the big bands of Tommy Dorsey (1940-1941) and Artie Shaw (1941) and then freelanced in the studios, most notably for MGM (1944-1949) and NBC (1950-1955). Hurley also played in Dixieland groups in the '50s including Matty Matlock's Rampart Street Paraders and on a heated (and fortunately recorded) live set from the Club Hangover in 1954 with Ralph Sutton and Edmond Hall. Clyde Hurley, a fine trumpeter with a fat tone and a hard-driving style, led two recording dates resulting in four numbers for Keynote in 1946 and five for Crown in 1950. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi