In Search of a Post-Jazz Cool
Frederick Brathwaite [later known as Fab 5 Freddy] was a tall slim African American raised in the do-or-die Bed-Stuy. He looked out at the world from behind his ever-present Ray-Bans, as if he has just stepped out of Minton’s Playhouse.

He had spent his childhood in casual proximity to Black genius. The bebop elite frequented his family’s house, people like Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Clifford Brown, and Freddy’s godfather Max Roach. His grandfather had been an associate of Marcus Garvey. His father, an accountant, was in the audience at the Audubon Ballroom when Malcolm X was shot. Freddy was born with an awareness of walking proudly through history.

Brathwaite wanted to be a serious artist. But he was also searching for an artform he could organize his worldview around — the same way his father saw the world through jazz. He found fresh energy in the Brooklyn mobile DJ scene, at shows thrown by Grandmaster Flowers, Maboya, and Pete DJ Jones.