Universal usually takes good care of their discs, though they have been known to be a bit inconsistent from time to time. Mo' Better Blues takes place in a lot of dark nightclubs and such, so some minor artifacting can be seen here and there. Some digital elements are also present, but no so much that they take away from the presence of the movie. I feel that with more care, this could look really great on DVD, but as it is, it looks better than a lot of other movies out there. Audio Mo' Better Blues has a Dolby Surround track which does just what it's supposed to, surround you with music.
Dialogue is clear but has just a bit of distortion and surround effects are used very sparingly.
The front speakers do most of the work here, with sax's blazing and trumpets blaring about, the soundtrack is just one of the things that we hear out of the speakers. Overall, not a bad mix, it could have been a bit better, but the whole disc seems to be put together just to whet our appetite.