Today’s Super 6 > FRIDAY / SEPT. 04, 2015

Music, Dance, Performing Arts
>Somi 
Joe’s Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St. / 7:30; 9:30PM, $  
“A jazz-soul singer of cool temperament and malleable technique, Somi draws from a recent sabbatical in Nigeria on “The Lagos Music Salon,” her brooding, socially engaged new album on the Okeh label. Performing material from the album on the heels of a European tour, she appears with her excellent backing band.” (Chinen-NYT)

>Jerry González and the Fort Apache Band
Blue Note, 131 W3rd St / 8PM + 10:30PM, $20, $35
Conga-playing trumpeter Jerry González’s fiery barrio-jazz ensemble, Fort Apache, fuses boppish melodies with the Afro-Cuban rhythms its founder picked up in the Bronx ’hood that gives the band its name.” (TONY)

>Miguel Zenón Quartet (through Sept. 6)
Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Ave South, at 11th St. / 8:30PM+10:30PM, $30
“Identities Are Changeable” is the most recent album by the alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón, who has turned the exploration of Puerto Rican culture into an aesthetic signature. His focus on the album is the Nuyorican experience, with snippets of oral history woven into his state-of-the-art big band arrangements — which he compresses here to their core, with his longtime quartet.” (Chinen-NYT)

TODAY’S TOP EVENT
Elsewhere, but absolutely worth the detour:
U.S. TENNIS OPEN (Day 5)
The U.S. Open continues play today (11AM) at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens and runs through Sept. 13. This is the fourth and final Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year. Everyone is looking for the Serena slam this year.
subway: #1-2-3 to Times Square; transfer to #7 to Willets Point. (about 45 min. from Times Square)

Matches to watch today: (predictions per Matt Cronin –  USOpen.org)

ASHE / BELINDA BENCIC (12) VS. VENUS WILLIAMS (23)
Bencic is coming very fast, from the look of watching the 18-year-old stun Serena Williams in the semifinals of Toronto. While Bencic has looked more flashy and composed recently – except for a brief meltdown in the previous round over contested line calls – Venus has wiped up the younger player in all three contests, including February in Dubai.

Bencic is only a teenager and already has had some lumps and bumps, but she is more composed, and when she is feeling good, she is lethal. Venus will come into the match confident, but after an hour or so, Bencic will pull away and win in three sets,

ARMSTRONG / AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA (15) VS. MADISON KEYS (19)
About two months ago, Radwanska and Keys clashed in the quarters at Wimbledon. It was very close, but in the end, Aga spun it around. The Pole isn’t very strong or tall, but she is very intelligent and get low to slap balls just over the net and into inside the corners.

Keys looked very good in the second round, smashing her serves and nailing her huge ground strokes. She can be wild at times, but if she is on the ball, she hits as well as anyone. Without a doubt, the Australian Open semifinalist can become frustrated and she can over-hit, but she is also overdue to take down a fine opponent. It won’t be easy, but Keys will best Radwanska in three sets.

ASHE / NOVAK DJOKOVIC (1) VS. ANDREAS SEPPI (25)
The Serb is 10-0 head-to-head versus Seppi, which means that he is a heavy favorite. But the Italian did shock Roger Federer at the 2015 Australian Open, so he cannot be completely counted out.

Seppi has been respectable all year and, without a doubt, he wants to shock the nine-time Grand Slam champion. But Djokovic hasn’t won a US Open since 2011 and he badly wants to raise the trophy again. Seppi will be close for two sets early on, but Djokovic will frustrated him and win in three.

Today’s tips: Arrive early. Security screening has been brutal, with long delays to enter. The best, most comprehensive review of the tournament and the current state of tennis can be found at the NYTimes/Sports

Once inside check out one of the electronic scoreboards listing matches in progress. Find a match or players that interest you. Head over to their court for some great tennis, because in this tournament even the qualifiers are great players. There is no other major sporting event where you can get so close to world class athletes as at the U.S. Open – on the outer field courts, the Grandstand court, or even Louis Armstrong stadium. Courts where you can get a real sense of the pace of the game.

Unfortunately, this is the last year for the Grandstand court, which is being replaced by a larger, less intimate court. It will be sorely missed. Make sure you find your way over there to see some matches while you can.

Bonus – Music Picks:

So much fine live music every night in this town. These are a few of my favorite music venues on Manhattan’s WestSide. Check out who’s playing tonight:
City Winery – 155 Varick St., citywinery.com, 212-608-0555
Joe’s Pub @ Public Theater – 425 Lafayette St. joespub.com, 212-967-7555
Metropolitan Room – 34W22ndSt., metropolitan room.com, 212-206-0440
Le Poisson Rouge – 158 Bleecker St. lepoissonrouge.com, 212-505-3474
Beacon Theatre – 2124 Broadway @ 74th St., beacontheatre.com, 212-465-6500
B.B. King’s Blues Bar – 237W42nd dSt. bbkingblues.com, 212-997-2144
Special Mention:
Caffe Vivaldi – 32 Jones St. nr Bleecker St. caffevivaldi.com, 212-691-7538
a classic, old jazz club in the Village, Caffe V often surprises with a wonderfully eclectic lineup. It’s my favorite spot for an evening of listening enjoyment and discovery.

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♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.
♦ NYCity, with a population of  8.5 million, had a record 56 million visitors last year and is TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2015.  Quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
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WHAT’S ON VIEW
My Fave Special Exhibitions – MUSEUMS / Manhattan’s WestSide
(See the New York Times Arts Section for listings of all museums,
and also to see their expanded reviews of these exhibitions)

Museum of Modern Art:
‘One-Way Ticket: Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series and Other Visions of the Great Movement North’ (through Sept. 7)
“In the early 20th century, tens of thousands of African Americans left the rural South for the industrial North in search of jobs, homes and respect. Officially, this MoMA show is meant to mark the centennial of that immense population shift, though it also marks another anniversary: the first time in two decades that all 60 paintings in Jacob Lawrence’s great “Migration Series,” now divided between New York and Washington, D.C., have been shown together at the museum. Here they are surrounded by period photographs, books and fabulous music in a display as stimulating to the mind and the ear as it is to the eye. 212-708-9400, moma.org.” (Cotter)

Museum of Arts and Design:
‘Richard Estes: Painting New York City’ (through Sept. 20)
“The core of this show is a selection of vivid, Photorealist paintings of urban subjects like glass and chrome storefronts, movie theater marquees, cars and trucks, subways, the Brooklyn Bridge, views from the Staten Island Ferry and idyllic images of Central Park made between 1965 and 2015. The exhibition also includes didactic sections about the craft and technique that go into Mr. Estes painting and prints, but that aspect doesn’t fully deliver what it promises. 2 Columbus Circle, Manhattan, 212-299-7777,madmuseum.org.”(Johnson).
I LOVE THIS ONE.

Whitney Museum of American Art:
‘America Is Hard to See’ (through Sept. 27)
“With high ceilings, soft pine-plank floors and light-flooded windows and terraces, the galleries of the new Renzo Piano-designed Whitney Museum in the meatpacking district are as airy as 19th-century sailmakers’ lofts. Art feels at home in them, and the work in the museum’s top-to-bottom inaugural exhibition is homegrown. Culled from the permanent collection, it mixes bookmarked favorites by Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe and Jasper Johns with objects and artists that the Whitney had all but forgotten or just brought in. As a vision of a larger America, the show is far from comprehensive; as a musing on the history of a particular New York institution over nearly a century, it is very fine, smartly detailed and superbly presented. 99 Gansevoort Street, at Washington Street, 212-570-3600, whitney.org.” (Cotter)

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For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in right Sidebar dated 09/02 and 08/31.