Funky Friday – Episode 34: Miles And Miles

Miles Davis Tribute

Airdate: 09.26.25 - 9am Pacific Time

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🎧 Listen live on Renegade Radio → Here

🎶 Catch the Replay → Comming Soon

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📂 Renegade Radio Site → Here

🎺Happy Funky Friday!

Welcome to Episode 34: Miles and Miles — This week we honor the genius of Miles Davis, whose sound traveled farther than anyone in jazz, bending into blues, funk, fusion, and beyond. From the smoky clubs of the 1950s to the electric firestorms of the ’70s and the synth-driven grooves of the ’80s, Miles charted new roads for everyone who came after him.

Episode 34 is a tribute that stretches across eras — where cool jazz meets funk fusion, where Miles’ trumpet echoes across miles of sound, and where his influence radiates through collaborators like Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller, and Weather Report. Two days before the anniversary of his passing on September 28, 1991, we celebrate not only Miles Davis the man, but the endless journey his music continues to inspire.

We open with So What, the cool modal masterpiece from Kind of Blue that redefined modern jazz. From there, the set takes us into funk-heavy explorations — Actual Proof, Miles Runs the Voodoo Down, Teen Town, and more — closing with Tutu, the late-era statement that proved Miles never stopped reinventing himself.

🎧 Track List – Funky Friday 34: Miles and Miles

• Miles Davis – So What (1959)

• Herbie Hancock – Actual Proof (1974)

• Brecker Brothers – Some Skunk Funk (1978)

• Miles Davis – Miles Runs the Voodoo Down (1970)

• Tony Williams Lifetime – Snake Oil (1970)

• Marcus Miller – Panther (1984)

• Weather Report – Teen Town (1977)

• Parliament – Mothership Connection (Star Child) (1975)

• Miles Davis – Tutu (1986)

🎙️ Why Miles and Miles?

Because funk doesn’t just live in one city or one groove — it travels. Miles Davis was the kind of artist who refused to stay still. He brought jazz into funk, funk into fusion, and fusion into the future. This episode isn’t just about playing Miles — it’s about tracing the miles of influence that radiate from his horn into every funky corner of music.

🔗 Quick Links:

🎧 Listen live on Renegade Radio → Here

🎶 Catch the Replay → Comming Soon

📖 Full Episode Recaps + Setlists → Here 

🎟 RSVP to Episode → Here

📂 Renegade Radio Site → Here

Funk Facts

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🎺 So What —Opener from Kind of Blue (1959), the best-selling jazz record of all time. Its modal approach shifted the entire course of jazz.

🎹 Actual Proof — From Herbie Hancock’s Thrust (1974). Written during his Headhunters era, this track blends furious funk with complex rhythmic layers. Hancock wrote it as a showcase of his band’s virtuosity — and it became a cult classic in the jazz-funk canon. Herbie Hancock is Miles’ Davis's former pianist.

🎸 Miles Runs the Voodoo Down — From Bitches Brew (1970), where Miles plugged in and launched the electric jazz-funk revolution.

🎷 Teen Town — Jaco Pastorius and Wayne Shorter’s Weather Report showed how Miles’ alumni carried fusion into bass-driven funk brilliance.

🥁 Snake Oil — From Turn It Over (1970) by Tony Williams Lifetime. Williams was Miles’ drummer in the Second Great Quintet, and here, with John McLaughlin and Larry Young, he helped pioneer the raw, funk-charged sound that paralleled Miles’ own electric experiments.

🚀 Mothership Connection — Parliament’s George Clinton was on a parallel mission: building funk into a world-bending, cosmic journey. Miles and George both lived at the edge of sound and space.

🎵 Tutu — Late-career Miles (1986), written/produced by Marcus Miller, proved Davis was still reinventing his sound decades later.