James “J.T.” Braxton (1919-2020) was a legendary musician and music educator and long-time Lubbock resident.
Braxton was born on September 18, 1919, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He moved to Lubbock in 1960 and began a twenty-five-year career with the Lubbock Independent School District where he taught orchestra at Dunbar High School, Struggs Junior High, Alderson Junior High, Atkins Junior High, and Bozeman Elementary. Even after his retirement in 1985, he continued teaching private lessons and tutoring at local schools well into his nineties. Prior to his time in Lubbock, Braxton attended Tuskegee Institute in Alabama but left to join the Army during World War II. While serving, he continued honing his musical skills through regular performances in the military band. He would later earn a bachelor’s degree from Wiley College in Marshall, TX, and a master’s in music from the University of Denver. When not occupied with studies, Braxton toured regularly, playing saxophone with a number of artists along the East Coast. JT married Bernice Roberts in 1945 and they remained married for 69 years until her death in 2014. An educator herself, Bernice received several formal recognitions for her work, some of which are contained in this collection. Together they became involved in the Lubbock community, especially their church, Mount Vernon United Methodist. The church would serve as the Braxton’s primary house of worship for over fifty years. JT’s musical talents on both saxophone and violin led to a number of additional opportunities including performances with the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, the Wayman Tisdale Smooth Jazz Cruise, and the Midland African American Council’s Midway Jazz Concerts, many of these concerts being performed alongside his award-winning son, Tom Braxton.
James “J.T.” Braxton was inducted into the West Texas Walk of Fame in 2017.
