Music From "Mo' Better Blues" is a collaborative album by Branford Marsalis Quartet and Terence Blanchard. It was released in 1990 through Columbia/CBS Records as a soundtrack to Spike Lee's 1990 film Mo' Better Blues. The recording sessions took place at RCA Studios and Sound on Sound in New York. The album was produced by Bill Lee, Delfeayo Marsalis, Raymond Jones and DJ Premier, with Spike Lee serving as executive producer. It features contributions from film stars Cynda Williams, Denzel Washington and Wesley Snipes, and American hip hop duo Gang Starr.
The album peaked at number 63 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart. Music video was released for a single "Jazz Thing". In 1991, the soundtrack received a nomination for a Soul Train Music Award for Best Jazz Album, while the song "Again Never" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards.
Bill Lee's diegetic score featuring the Natural Spiritual Orchestra, was finally released in 2026, as an MOD CD by Elastic Stage: https://elasticstage.com/newversionmusic/releases/mo-better-blues-original-score-album
Accolades +Accolades for Music From "Mo' Better Blues"PublicationAccoladeRankAlbumism100 Greatest Soundtracks of All Time ComplexThe 50 Greatest Movie Soundtracks of All Time Consequence of SoundThe 100 Greatest Movie Soundtracks of All TimeThe Boombox20 Great Hip-Hop/Jazz Albums of the '90s VultureThe 40 Greatest Movie Soundtracks of All Time
Track listing
Personnel
Branford Marsalis – soprano and tenor saxophone, co-producer (track 8) Kenny Kirkland – piano Robert Hurst – bass Jeff "Tain" Watts – drums Terence Blanchard – trumpet Cynda Williams – backing vocals (track 1), alto vocals (track 9) Denzel Washington – vocals (track 6) Wesley Snipes – vocals (track 6) Keith "GuRu" Elam – rap vocals (track 8) B. David Whitworth – backing vocals (track 8) Mark Ledford – backing vocals (track 8) Tawatha Agee – backing vocals (track 8) Brooklyn Crooks – chorus shouts vocals (track 8) Clare Fischer – string arrangement and conductor (tracks: 1, 9) Peter Hunstein – programming (track 8) Raymond Jones – producer (tracks: 1, 9) Delfeayo Marsalis – producer (tracks: 2, 3, 6, 7) William "Bill" Lee III – producer (tracks: 4, 5) Chris "DJ Premier" Martin – producer (track 8) Larry DeCarmine – recording (tracks: 1, 9) Larry Ferguson – mixing (tracks: 1, 9) Patrick Smith – recording and mixing (tracks: 2–7) Rob Hunter – recording and mixing (track 8) Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee – executive producer Ken Kochman – design
Charts Chart (1990)PeakpositionUS Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) 21US Traditional Jazz Albums (Billboard) 1
References
External links