Cortez ‘Corky’ McCoy was the artist behind four albums by Miles Davis in the 1970s. McCoy and Davis were close friends and shared an apartment together in New York City. What work he did prior to meeting Davis is not well known but his style clearly had the desired effect on him.

At the time, Davis was concerned about his audience reach, most especially into the African-American community and he felt his friend could produce the type of album artwork that would appeal to that demographic and whilst his record label Colombia were very much against it, Davis in typical Davis fashion stood firm.

Whilst these covers are wonderfully of their time they were strikingly impactful and above all, fun.

On the Corner was not only an attempt to attract an African-American audience through its album art but also a concerted attempt by Davis to change direction musically with clear nods to the new emerging Funk scene which had taken a large chunk of jazz music’s younger audience. Unfortunately the album proved a commercial failure, Davis and Colombia were clearly out of synch and this reflected on how the album was marketed. Not only did they fall short with their target audience they also incurred the wrath of their existing jazz fan base.

But, in typical Miles Davis fashion, the album would enjoy a critical renaissance years later when he won admiration for being an early trailblazer in other genres to come towards the end of the decade.

Corky McCoy created a highly likeable funky street style, Davis along with the musicians featured on these albums were serious players, highly skilled musicians in a mostly more serious style. These covers were designed to dispel that stereotype to a degree and make Davis more accessible. How successful that was isn’t clear as Davis stopped making studio albums by the mid seventies. But we can at least enjoy the artwork he produced and the great sense of style and fun it evoked.