Discover
A celebration of the transformative power of music, and the bonds that develop when artists collaborate and worlds collide, the film follows Satan & Adam, a blues duo and a fixture on Harlem’s sidewalks in the late 1980s and early 1990s. 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, where they were happened upon by U2 who were filming for their Rattle and Hum documentary, to bigger and bigger stages, depicting the challenges that both had to overcome to keep Satan & Adam and their friendship together.
Playing for years with artists including James Brown, KingCurtisand Big Maybelle, 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 Satan, he spread his gospel of freedom and became a New York City legend. When a white Jewish Ivy league 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. 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.
Original Release
07/12/2018
US Release
04/12/2019
Links
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
The Edge | Self |
Harry Shearer | Self |
Al Sharpton | Self |
Sterling Magee | Sterling Magee / Mr. Satan / Self |
Adam Gussow | Self / Adam Gussow |
Rachel Faro | Self |
Directors
Writers
Ryan Suffern, V. Scott Balcerek
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
The Edge | Self |
Harry Shearer | Self |
Al Sharpton | Self |
Sterling Magee | Sterling Magee / Mr. Satan / Self |
Adam Gussow | Self / Adam Gussow |
Rachel Faro | Self |
Producers
Name | Role |
---|
Trevor Birney | Executive Producer |
Brendan J. Byrne | Executive Producer |
Daniel Cantagallo | Executive Producer |
Matt Ippolito | Executive Producer |
Bryn Mooser | Executive Producer |
Hayley Pappas | Executive Producer |
David Piperni | Executive Producer |
Corey Russell | Executive Producer |
V. Scott Balcerek | Producer |
George Antonopoulos | Producer |
Alex Bowen | Producer |
Eu-Hua Chua | Producer |
Gregory Joseph Daniels | Producer |
Everett Hendler | Producer |
Brian Joe | Producer |
Frank Marshall | Producer |
Craig McTurk | Producer |
David Munro | Producer |
Jeffrey Pollack | Producer |
Smiley Stevens | Producer |
Ryan Suffern | Producer |
J.R. Mitchell | Producer |