SEAL
SYMPHONY HALL, BIRMINGHAM
23 FEBRUARY
© Getty Images
It takes craft, a certain cool and, most significantly, great chops to carry off ‘The Great American Songbook’ without coming across like some two-bit Sinatra. But you get the feeling Frank would have approved of Seal’s interpretation of the repertoire on Standards. “This is the album I have always wanted to make”, the singer said on its release last year. “I grew up listening to music from the Rat Pack era, so recording these timeless tunes was a lifelong dream.”