Satan & Adam

Sterling Magee experienced the music industry’s exploitation of black musicians firsthand. So he walked away to play on the Harlem streets for “his people.” Reborn as Mr. Satan, he spread his gospel of freedom and became a New York City legend. When a white Jewish scholar and musician named Adam Gussow asked if he could join him one day, both their lives took a powerful turn. Adam put aside the ivory tower life to play in the streets, and Sterling's embrace of his younger apprentice forged a sound that thrust him back in the spotlight, including a fortuitous encounter with members of rock icons U2. But life on the road took its toll on the duo, and suddenly Sterling vanished without a trace. The separation would test both men’s courage, and their journey to find each other again a tale of tragedy, survival and miraculous rebirth.

Satan & Adam is a celebration of the transformative power of music, and the bonds that develop when artists collaborate and worlds collide. Director V. Scott Balcerek pulls together over two decades of documentary footage to chart the duo’s trajectory from busking in the streets of Harlem to bigger and bigger stages, depicting the challenges that both had to overcome to keep Satan & Adam and their friendship together.