Kenneth J. Alford

After playing the cornet, piano, and organ in the Royal Irish Regiment and serving in India, Frederick Joseph Ricketts became a student bandmaster at the Royal Military School of Music. He became the bandmaster for the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in 1908. He also served as director of music for the Royal Marines. Ricketts composed under the pen name Kenneth J. Alford (Alford was his mother's maiden name), and is remembered as one of the finest composers of military marches. He was a master in instrumentation and possessed a clear melodic sense. His marches often contain inventive counter-melodies, and Ricketts' abilities are considered to be the rival of that of Sousa. "Colonel Bogey" is his best-known work. ~ Lynn Vought