Trivia for
Mo' Better Blues (1990) More at IMDbPro »

• Joie Lee is director Spike Lee's sister. At the wedding, her character is given away by a character played by their real-life father Bill Lee.
  
  
• The film was dedicated to actor/comedian Robin Harris who died after the film was completed.
  
  
• Behind the bill on the cover/poster, the posters for Do the Right Thing (1989) can be seen.
  
  
• Wesley Snipes' character, Shadow, purchases a stack of John Coltrane CD's with an American Express card. When he shows his American Express card he smiles and says: "American Express. Gold card, pow. Been a member since 1989". In 1989, Snipes had another encounter with the American Express credit card, in the movie Major League (1989). Snipes' character, Willie Hayes, acts in a commercial for American Express in which he slides into home saying "American Express, don't steal home without it".
  
  
• Denzel Washington's trumpet sound is played by Terence Blanchard and Branford Marsalis plays the sax for Wesley Snipes. The music you hear in the movie when the actors are "playing" was performed by Branford's working band which was used for "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (1992) when Jay Leno took over.
  
  
• Although the scenes take place over ten years apart, the same kids ask the exact same question in both the opening and closing sequences.
  
  
• The last and final film that would be scored by Spike Lee's father, Bill Lee.
  
  
• Usage of the film's original title: "A Love Supreme", was denied by Alice Coltrane, the widow of John Coltrane, the composer of the four-movement composition.
  
  
• Denzel Washington and Wesley Snipes were trained to mimic the playing of the instruments they play in the film (trumpet and saxophone) by musicians Terence Blanchard and Donald Harrison. Washington later admitted that he was lucky if he could play three notes of a simple tune prior to filming and ended up being able to correctly mimic most of the songs performed in the film along with Snipes.
  
  

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