Miles' Funk vs. Godfather's Funk

Actually Wikipedia is generally on the money.. It certainly is on the money in that statement you cite.

Really I find Wikipedia way more trustworthy than people's opinions; for example your opinion that "It carries about as much authority as anybody on this forum."

 

I think Miles is a different kind of funk.. I think they are both great but I can't compare them cause its like an apples and oranges.

 

Miles' funk basically amounts to a single album. However good that album is, it can't compare to a whole career and legacy. Plus, Miles' funk is one small piece in the jigsaw of his complete output.

 

As a big a Miles fan as I am, there can be no bigger, BUT he ain't got no bizness tryin' to funk with the Godfather.

 

Miles was a funk dilletante. His funk is sometimes rewarding, and he did some of his best trumpeting in this context (see Jack Johnson), and it moves me physically, but most of it is just lo-voltage, lo-inspiration jamming. At best, you never lose sight of the fact that it's Miles doing James. Why not go to the source?

 

Not comparable in either direction. And why try? At that level of achievement, comparisons are odious. And useless.

L.

 

Miles was influenced by funk. It suggested possibilities to him. He did not, however, play funk. He subsummed elements of it and created his own powerful and wholly original mode of expression.

Brown did the same thing with what influenced him.

L.

 

What albums would you guys recommend to someone who's interested in learning about Miles Davis' funk material?

 

i'm sorry. there is no basis for comparison they are so different.

if you want to dance maybe james brown,
but for musical creativity and depth miles is in another (far superior) dimension.

 

anything recorded between 1972 and 1975....like the Bottom Line, NYC 11-8-74 or....everything is GREAT, it's all the same piece of music...

 

I think probably that the best place to begin would be with Jack Johnson. After that, I would check out the "funkier" cuts on Get Up With it and then the live material from just before the temporary retirement (Agartha and Pangaea ).

L.

 

Isn't dancing a big part of funk?

 

Miles' so-called "funk" period was so unique and dark that it hardly fits the traditional definition of FUNK.

I love it all but really don't see it as staright up funk the way that James' music was.

Bottom line: I love 'em both but for different reasons.