Collection: Anthony Braxton

Anthony Braxton came out of Chicago's AACM in the mid-1960s with a musical approach that placed him outside almost every available category: his alto saxophone playing drew on Charlie Parker and Lee Konitz, on John Cage's chance-based compositions, and on the extended techniques of post-war European new music, and he combined all of it under a compositional system that titled pieces with graphic diagrams rather than words. "For Alto" (Delmark, 1971), recorded in a Chicago community centre basement in 1969, was the first full-length unaccompanied saxophone album in recorded music and remains the record collectors encounter first. He moved to Paris in 1969 with fellow AACM members Leroy Jenkins and Wadada Leo Smith, recorded for the BYG Actuel label, and on returning to New York formed the Circle quartet with Chick Corea, Dave Holland, and Barry Altschul. A 1974 deal with Arista gave him access to larger recording budgets and a wider audience, producing a run of albums that ranged from small group improvisation to full orchestral works. Later recordings for hat ART, Black Saint, and Leo Records documented his working quartets through the 1980s and 1990s. The Delmark, BYG Actuel, and Arista catalogue represent the most collectible vinyl of his output.