Born 4 June 1945, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Influential experimental composer and saxophonist. Member of the AACM where he was influenced by mentors Muhal Richard Abrams and Roscoe Mitchell and friends Joseph Jarman, Wadada Leo Smith and Leroy Jenkins, among others. In 1969 Braxton recorded [m=62244], the first full-length album for unaccompanied saxophone. Braxton’s compositions are mostly titled with diagrams rather than words.

Braxton plays the sopranino, soprano, C-melody, F mezzo-soprano, E-flat alto, baritone, bass, and contrabass saxophones; the E-flat, B-flat, and contrabass clarinets; and the piano. He is John Spencer Camp Professor of Music, Emeritus, at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT. In 1994, Braxton was awarded a MacArthur Foundation genius grant. In 2013, he was named a 2014 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master.

Father of Tyondai Braxton.