Out Now: Adonis Rose & Phillip Manuel’s Unusual Suspects Is Essential Listening

Grammy Award-winning drummer, composer, producer, and educator Adonis Rose doesn’t just lead a session on Unusual Suspects—he curates an experience. Teaming up with vocalist Phillip Manuel, a collaborator he’s shared stages and studio time with for years, Rose delivers a record that feels both deeply rooted in New Orleans musical tradition and boldly alive in the present. From the first note, it’s clear this isn’t simply another entry in the year’s jazz releases. It’s the kind of album that reminds you why jazz collections exist in the first place: to hold the recordings that still feel like living rooms—full of air, character, risk, and truth.

At the center of it all is the chemistry between Rose and Manuel. Their musical history shows in the way the record breathes—confident, unforced, and completely in sync. Manuel has previously appeared in live performances with NOJO at the Jazz Market and recorded with the orchestra on its Allen Toussaint tribute, and that lineage matters here: you can hear the respect for songcraft, the reverence for groove, and the commitment to storytelling. But Unusual Suspects isn’t nostalgia. It’s refinement. It’s two artists who know exactly what they want the listener to feel—and who have the musicianship to deliver it without overexplaining.

The production, handled by Rose, lands with an immersive clarity that rewards close listening. Every detail is placed with intention: the warmth of the Fender Rhodes, the snap of the drums, the roundness of the bass, the way the horns rise and settle like conversation. It’s a mix that gives you dimension, not just volume, allowing the performances to shine in full color.

The orchestration and arrangements, shaped by Manuel’s longtime writing partner and Musical Director Michael Pellera, are equally thoughtful—carefully curated to serve the emotional weight of each piece while leaving room for spontaneity and swing. Vocals and instrumentation are balanced with rare elegance: Manuel’s voice is never swallowed by the band, and the band is never reduced to accompaniment. Everyone is heard. Everyone matters.

And Phillip Manuel—what a voice. Rich doesn’t quite cover it. There’s a depth in his tone that carries lived experience, a humanity that makes every lyric feel like it’s arriving in real time. You might catch echoes of the classic baritone lineage—Johnny Hartman, Andy Bey—if only as a reference point for that kind of velvet gravity, that kind of emotional honesty. But the truth is simpler and more impressive: Phillip Manuel is singular. His phrasing is patient, his storytelling is unflashy but devastatingly effective, and he knows how to sit inside a groove without ever losing the meaning of the words.

Then there’s the horn work—sharp, soulful, and beautifully blended. Ricardo Pascal on tenor and soprano saxophones brings both fire and finesse, moving between lyrical lines and muscular statements with ease. Stephen Lands’ trumpet adds brightness and bite, cutting through when needed and melting back into the ensemble when the story demands subtlety. Together, the horns don’t just decorate the arrangements—they elevate them, giving the album its cinematic lift and its street-level swagger in equal measure.

Recorded in the summer of 2025 at Artisound Studios in New Orleans, the project’s concept is as compelling as its execution. Much of Unusual Suspects draws from former instrumentals and jazz standards, now reimagined with original lyrics by Manuel—an approach that takes serious musical intelligence to pull off without feeling forced. Lee Morgan’s “Party Time” is given new narrative life, as is “The Unusual Suspects” by pianist Peter Martin. Steve Masakowski’s “Sixth Ward Strut” gets a vocal treatment that feels like a love letter to the city itself, while gems like “The Road Less Traveled” and Joe Sample’s “I’ll Love You” are handled with care, groove, and emotional clarity. A swinging take on Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” lands as both a clever curveball and a testament to the band’s range, while Bill Withers’ beloved “Hello Like Before” is treated with the kind of respect that doesn’t flatten the song—it deepens it.

Unusual Suspects is out now, and it’s the rare jazz vocal record that satisfies on every level: performance, arrangement, sound, and soul. This is musicianship you can trust—music that honors the tradition without being trapped by it. If you care about jazz as a living art form, this is one for the collection.