Goodman marking 25 years as music promoter, capping summer with 'Super Jam' in Wilson

By Joshua Maloni

GM/Managing Editor

A contractor by trade, Lewiston’s Steve Goodman unexpectedly found himself playing a critical role in waterfront entertainment a quarter-century ago.

Goodman said he was speaking with the owner of what was then Water Street Landing (now the site of the Griffon Brewery & Gastropub).

“I told him, ‘This is not what these people are used to,’ ” Goodman said of the musical acts being booked. “He said, ‘Oh, yeah?’ I said, ‘Yeah; you’re going to lose them.’ He said, ‘You think you can do better?’ I said, ‘I don’t know; I’ll try.’ And I was off and running.”

That partnership would last for a decade, before Goodman took his talents to Sunset Bar & Grill in Wilson.

“He’s got an ear for music,” said Goodman’s wife, Karen. “His whole family – his father, his uncles, everybody was musicians back in the day – big band musicians.”

“I just like people on the patio smiling,” Goodman said. “Like yesterday – beautiful day. We had JJ Swing. You can’t miss. The place was packed. People spending money. Everybody was in a good mood, dancing. It was just a great day. That’s what I like.”

“I feel as good about what I do today as the day I started, and it’s hard to maintain that – in any relationship,” Goodman said. “I get excited; I can’t wait to get there.”

“These people feel the passion and love that I have for what I do; they feel it,” he added.

Goodman’s 25^th anniversary season will conclude with the popular “Super Jam.”

“It’s our 14^th annual ‘Super Jam.’ It takes place this Sunday, Aug. 31. It starts at 2 o’clock – until whenever,” Goodman said. “We’ve got bands, and we’ve got about 15-20 special guests. And then at 8:30, we have a big super jam. All the musicians get up there and jam.”

“It’s a good show,” he said.

“Every one of my bands is the best,” Goodman added.

Metro Creative Graphics

••••••••

The free event does, indeed, feature a stellar lineup of Western New York musicians, including:

√ 2-2:35 p.m., house band and guests

√ 2:55-3:30 p.m., Maria Aurigema

√ 3:50-4:25 p.m., Thurman Bros.

√ 4:45-5:20 p.m., Robert "Freightrain" Parker

√ 5:40-6:15 p.m., Rod Nickson Project

√ 6:35-7:15, Jamie Holka, Paul Yates, Dave Thurman and Shannon Street

√ 7:30-8:10 p.m., Grosh

A “jam session” will follow, with special guests including Holka, Barry Arborgast, Jay Moynihan, Keith McDougall, J.J. White, Cory Klawon, Peter Vincent, Jack McArdle and Dave Mokhiber.

Goodman said the “Super Jam” debuted with about 600 or 700 people in attendance.

“It was a winner from the first year we did it,” he said.

The bands, “they love it,” he said. “It’s a big party – that’s what it is.”

“They do look forward to it, because everybody loves the venue there,” Karen said. “They like playing there, because it’s a big stage, it’s outside – you feel like you’re on vacation, because the water’s there and the boats.”

“It’s beautiful,” Goodman said.

Music fans, meanwhile, “They look forward to it,” Karen said. “Everybody watches for the date, and, ‘When’s the “Super Jam”?’ from all over Western New York. They’ll come from Cheektowaga, Hamburg – all over the place.”

Sunset Bar & Grill is located at 3 O’Connell Island, Wilson.