Alto Saxophone, Multi-Instrumentalist | b. 1945

Braxton's playing encompasses alto and soprano saxophone, contrabass clarinet, flute, and piano, but it is his compositional thinking that most distinguishes him: a rigorous, systematised approach to structure that titles pieces with graphic diagrams rather than words, draws on John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen as readily as on Charlie Parker, and has produced one of the most documented bodies of work in post-1960 music. He grew up in Chicago, joined the AACM in the mid-1960s, and in 1969 recorded "For Alto" (Delmark, 1971) in the basement of the Parkway Community Center, an unaccompanied double LP that was the first extended solo saxophone album in recorded music. He moved to Paris that same year with Leroy Jenkins and Wadada Leo Smith, recorded for the BYG Actuel label, and on returning to New York co-led the Circle quartet with Chick Corea, Dave Holland, and Barry Altschul. An Arista contract in 1974 produced his most accessible period, including "Creative Orchestra Music 1976" (Arista, 1976), which documents a full big band performing his graphic compositions. He has taught at Mills College and Wesleyan University and continues to record and perform prolifically.