How Will Satan & Adam Play in 2019?

An interracial blues duo born in 1980s Harlem was a symbol of harmony in a tense time. But times have changed.

By

May 2, 2019

“I can’t believe how many white people are in Harlem now,” Adam Gussow said. He was strolling around the neighborhood, marveling at how much the place had changed since he was a Columbia University grad-school dropout in the 1980s. “I was the only white guy in Harlem at the time. I just saw a white guy jogging. You never used to see that.”

But he was more than an interloper in Harlem all those years ago. He was the harmonica player in a blues duo called Satan & Adam that started off playing on the sidewalk of 125th Street and then went on to tour the country, make a record that charted, and even appear briefly on a U2 album.

“Back then,” he said, “everyone used to tell me, ‘Don’t go to Harlem.’ I would say, ‘Why not?’”

It was in Harlem that he met Sterling Magee, the guitarist he would play with for the next 12 years. Mr. Gussow was in town for the New York premiere of a documentary about the band. The movie, “Satan & Adam,” opened in theaters last month, and it starts streaming on Netflix early this summer.