Blues Street slides into Scranton
By Don McGlynn Weekender Correspondent
Scott Goldman is doing his best to help broaden both the musical and dining selections for the folks in downtown Scranton. Two months ago, the music agent, recently turned club owner, opened the Blues Street, a smoke-free bar and restaurant with full espresso bar that offers authentic blues and jazz music and contemporary southern cuisine.
“I wanted to give adults and mature individuals more of a choice in where to go for food and entertainment,” explained Goldman. “I feel that having a blues club really says a lot about a city. Every major city has one, and now so do we.”
Goldman, whose love for jazz and blues stems from years of working as an agent for musicians with the agency Blue Scope, has taken the experiences and connections he’s acquired over the years and is now utilizing them to help bring top notch entertainment into the city.
“Some of the musicians that play in the club come to me, others I seek out, but I also have a circle of musicians that I am able to utilize. I’m able to put certain shows together you wouldn’t see anywhere else,” said Goldman.
Goldman has done his best to personalize every element in his new club not just with who goes on stage, but also what selections go in the menu.
“The menu was put together to represent my experiences with the top jazz and blues venues all around the world. The food we’re serving is the same as what those clubs are serving, and we have an amazing chef who is able to add his own mark on each dish.”
Whether it’s the music or the food, something is working. In the club’s short life it has already gained quite a following, with crowds gathering loyally every weekend for their live shows, which feature acts from across the country. A few weeks ago they played host to Chicago’s number one guitar player, Nick Moss, and this Saturday the blues band from Detroit, Motor City Josh Blues Band, will take the stage.
And this isn’t to say that the Blues Street is a place just for national acts. This Friday the local jazz and R&B group Bobby Hammond and the Organic Grove Unit will be playing there, and Goldman has plans to make the club a safe haven for a number of local musicians.
“We’re intending to foster one, possibly two, house bands that will be able to perform one night a week each. It’s nice for musicians to have a place to casually test out material in front of an audience, and we want to give them a stage where they can do that,” said Goldman.
The opening of the club is doubly exciting, because on top of bringing jazz and blues to the area, it will also mark the beginning of the rebirth of the Ritz Building located on Wyoming Ave.
“I looked around for a year to find the right spot, and I feel I found it. The Ritz Building is one of the landmark buildings in the area with a great history, and now it’s going to be a building with a lot of future,” said Goldman.
On the second floor of the building is a theater equipped for showing films, or hosting concerts and plays, which the owners of the building are plans on doing soon.
“It’s the perfect marriage. When people are done seeing a show on the second floor, they’ll come down to us and have a drink,” said Goldman.
While the bar doesn’t have its liquor license, Goldman assures that it will be coming any day. The idea of the club being one thing today and something else tomorrow is fitting of Goldman’s attitude. He says the club is open to change.
“I feel that what I have is a blank canvas, and I’m going to cover it as I go along,” said Goldman.
(The Blues Street is open for lunch and dinner during the week, with live shows on the weekend. For a full list of upcoming shows, or to view the menu you can check them out on the web at
www.bluesstreetsscranton.com)
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