Al Sweet

Over the course of his career, Sweet served as music director and soloist for the Edison Phonograph Company, bandmaster of the Ringling Brothers Circus, and eventually founded his own band, The White Hussars.

After starting on violin and taking lessons from his father, Sweet later picked up the E♭ cornet at the age of 8 and joined the town silver band.

[4] He eventually arrived in New York City where he met famed cornetist William Paris Chambers.

Each bandsman was as equally capable of a singer and the group often sang a cappella arrangements leading to the ensemble being promoted as a "singing band".

[7] The band was a popular touring group, playing in local vaudeville shows and the Chautauqua circuits.