4 Things to Know About Miles Davis’s On the Corner
- Miles Davis used a wah-wah pedal on his trumpet throughout the album, giving it a funky, filtered sound that broke from traditional jazz tone.
- The album blends funk from Sly Stone and James Brown with experimentalism from Karlheinz Stockhausen and free jazz from Ornette Coleman.
- Davis didn’t just borrow from funk — he fully immersed himself in its rhythms and textures, making the record a radical departure from his earlier work.
- On the Corner is a dense, confrontational album that prioritizes groove and texture over melody, which divided critics but influenced later jazz fusion.