Chicago avant-guardist, alto saxophonist,
and composer Anthony Braxton,
New York City, c. 1972.

Photograph by Frank Stewart/Jazz at Lincoln Center.

 

“W-138”

Anthony Braxton

1976

An early member of Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, Braxton, like Ellington, refused to be categorized as a musician or composer, writing music for solo saxophone, piano, opera, orchestra, and small groups, among other settings, that has broadened the language of jazz.