Sacred Ceremonies is a three-CD box set album by trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith on which he is joined by drummer Milford Graves and electric bassist Bill Laswell.

"[3] Writing for DownBeat, Dave Cantor stated: "Listening to Smith and Graves assess history on 'Baby Dodds In Congo Square,' it's difficult to keep track of the drummer's polyrhythms, as the trumpeter narrates the importance of both the titular place and the musician.

And when Smith, Laswell and Graves perform together on Sacred Ceremonies' final disc, a sort of philosophical fervor electrifies the sonic discussions of myth, justice and healing energies.

For all the avant-garde and free jazz elements at work here, Sacred Ceremonies is the sound of Smith drifting forward, grabbing inspiration from his surroundings and feeding them into his horn as he continues a music career that has lasted close to 50 years now.

"[14] Point of Departure's Chris Robinson remarked: "What most stands out about Sacred Ceremonies is how the music and interpersonal dynamics shift in the different configurations – which traits come to the fore, which recede, which compromises are made.

"[16] A reviewer for Monarch Magazine wrote: "On Sacred Ceremonies, three masters go deeply, fearlessly and transcendently into this mysterious, magnificent thing we call music, and come up with an offering that feels like a gift from the universe.

The brooding, skulking character of some of the songs occasionally squares the circle between Electric Miles and dub, but it is precisely the lack of expected guitars or keys that gives the music a far less dense yet nonetheless penetrating quality.