Braxton Anthony, *4 June 1945 Chicago, American saxophonist, clarinettist, flautist, and jazz composer. In 1966, he became a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Soon after, together with L. Jenkins and L. Smith, he formed the Creative Construction Company (active until 1970). From 1970, he collaborated successively with O. Coleman, Corea’s Circle Chica group, and then (in Paris) with various European musicians, including A. von Schlippenbach. In 1974, after returning to the United States, he performed and recorded with D. Holland, B. Altschul, K. Wheeler, and others. In the 1980s and 1990s, he actively composed, performed, and recorded with his own bands. From 1985 to 1990, he taught at Mills College in Oakland, and then, from 1990 to 2013, he was a professor at Wesleyan University in Middletown. He performed in Poland in 1984, 2008, 2012, and 2020.
Since the late 1960s, Braxton has been considered the most uncompromising artist of the jazz avant-garde. In his music, he brings together extremely innovative and traditional elements (Coltrane, Dolphy, Monk, Tristano). Braxton’s compositions (for various ensembles) are a combination of advanced jazz language (with a predominance of free style) and the compositional techniques of 20th-century composers (Schönberg, Cage, Stockhausen); many of his works were inspired by non-musical sources (astrology, mathematical symbols, numerology, visual forms). Braxton’s work had a major influence on the shape of the jazz avant-garde of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s (including John Zorn). Titles of some of his albums: For Alto (1969); In the Tradition, released in 2 volumes (1974); Anthony Braxton Quartet (1985); Anthony Braxton, Evan Parker, Paul Rutherford. Trio (1993).
Literature: R.M. Radano New Musical Figurations Anthony Braxton’s Cultural Critique, Chicago 1993.
