Screening of Spike Lee's 'Mo' Better Blues' within the Barbican's Jazz on Screen series and the EFG London Jazz Festival, marking the centenary of John Coltrane.
Spike Lee's Mo' Better Blues screens at the Barbican Centre on Sunday 15 November, part of the Jazz on Screen series and the EFG London Jazz Festival 2026. The film follows trumpeter Bleek Gilliam, played by Denzel Washington, and takes its climax from John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, weaving themes of spiritual awakening through a story of demons and addiction. It was originally titled A Love Supreme before the change.
The screening marks the centenary of Coltrane, born in 1926, whose music and legacy are one of the defining themes of the 2026 festival. Mo' Better Blues is the centrepiece of the Jazz on Screen programme, which brings together three films that draw on his work. Zózimo Bulbul's Soul On Ice uses the 1965 free-jazz piece Kulu Se Mama to reflect on Brazilian history, and Melvonna Ballenger's Rain (Nyesha), associated with the foundational LA Rebellion movement, is set to After the Rain.
Produced by Serious, the EFG London Jazz Festival has grown into one of the world's most expansive jazz celebrations, with performances in major concert halls and intimate clubs alike. This particular screening sits within that wider calendar, which this year keeps returning to Coltrane's influence across different genres and countries.
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It runs at 14:00 in Cinema 3 at the Barbican, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS. Standard tickets are £15.50, which includes a £1.50 transaction fee; Barbican members pay £11.20; Young Barbican is £6; students, the unwaged, and over 65s are £12.50; and under 18s are £7.50.
