The most famous album created by the artist is Machine Gun, included among the classics of free jazz. Brötzmann has recorded more than 50 albums as a leader and was featured on dozens of other releases. The list of his collaborators features, among others: Cecil Taylor, Keiji Haino, Willem van Manen, Mats Gustafsson, Ken Vandermark, Conny Bauer, Joe McPhee, Paal Nilssen-Love and his son – guitarist Caspar Brötzmann, as well as Poles: Tomasz Stańko and Mikołaj Trzaska.