SPIKE LEE: Mo' Better Blues (1990)
“I know what I want. My music. Everything else is secondary.”
CONTENT WARNING: Discussion of womanizing, misogyny, gambling.
Spike Lee had the unenviable task of following up one of the greatest movies of all time. And instead of taking a long break or jumping to big budget movies, Spike decided to rein everything back in for another slice of life about another of his many loves - jazz. Granted, his writing efforts were a bit disjointed, a bit lacking in story to make everything well-rounded. But Spike still brought all his visual powers to bear with a cast that absolutely knocks out their roles, even if they’re a bit thin on the page. And don’t get us started on the music - this movie still has a lot to offer. Grab a seat and order a drink as we talk about 1990’s Mo’ Better Blues this week on Macintosh & Maud Haven’t Seen What?!
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Intro music taken from the Second Movement of Ludwig von Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Hong Kong (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 HK) license. To hear the full performance or get more information, visit the song page at the Internet Archive.
Excerpt taken from “Mo’ Better Blues” from the soundtrack to the movie Mo’ Better Blues, written by Bill Lee and performed by the Branford Marsalis Quartet featuring Terence Blanchard. Copyright 1990 CBS Records Inc.
Excerpt taken from “Part I - Acknowledgement” from John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, copyright 1965 ABC-Paramount Records, Inc.; 2022 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Excerpt taken from “Everyday People” by Sly and the Family Stone, copyright 1968 Daly City Music.
