JNBO – & FRIENDS.

dereksmusicblog ♦ April 29, 2026 ♦ Leave a comment

JNBO – & Friends.

Label: College Of Knowledge Records.

Format: Vinyl.

Currently, Australia has a thriving and vibrant music scene. That has been the case for many years. All across the country there’s truly talented singers, songwriters, musicians and producers. This includes Melbourne and Naarm-based bassist, composer, engineer and producer, Henry Jenkins.

For those unfamiliar with Jenkins’ work and music, he’s the producer and engineer behind Surprise Chef, Karate Boogaloo and the critically acclaimed and Grammy-winning Frollen Music Library. That’s not all. 

Jenkins is also College Of Knowledge Records’ in-house recording and mix engineer. He’s also one of the leading lights of Melbourne Naarm’s instrumental cinematic soul movement. The multitalented Jenkins is regarded as having honed and masterminded this groundbreaking and genre-melting musical movement.

One of Jenkins’ aliases is JNBO, which is his solo project. His debut album is ‘& Friends,’ which was released on vinyl on College Of Knowledge Records. This twelve track opus is a cinematic musical odyssey through a variety of disparate genres and has been influenced by a variety of music and artists. 

The twelve tracks on the album were composed by Jenkins. He also recorded and produced the album. This wasn’t an ordinary album. Jenkins had a vision for the album. There was a concept, and he wanted to record it with some of his friends from the Melbourne music scene. 

Jenkins explains: “I wanted to write a record I would look forward to recording with my friends. The music I was writing had a funk sensibility in the bass and drums, contrasted by a more cinematic approach in the harmonic and melodic content, with guitars slipping and sliding in between. I tried to make that contrast the character of the record. I felt that every song should have the same instrumentation and with the same personnel. This became an enjoyable creative constraint; how much variation could I pull out of the same 8 instruments over the course of the album? I wanted to find as much diversity as I could within these tight bounds.”

Having come up with the concept, Jenkins put together his band. Not only were they his friends, they’re all truly talented musicians and familiar faces in Melbourne’s thriving and vibrant music scene. This included members of Karate Boogaloo and Surprise Chef.

Joining bassist Jenkins in the rhythm section was drummer Hudson Whitlock. They were joined by triumvirate of guitarists, David Thor, Lachlan Stuckey and Lewis Coleman. The other members of the band were pianist Lena Douglas, Callum Riley on Hammond organ and Jethro Curtin on string synths. He was responsible for the unmistakable sound of the Solina String Ensemble.

The arrangements are best described as unconventional, while the instrumentation is different from the majority of albums released nowadays. Jenkins wanted arrangements that featured three guitars and three keyboards. The final piece of the musical jigsaw was Jenkins bass. 

Then Jenkins set about were strategically placing the instruments across the twelve arrangements. As any producer knows, placing the instruments in the correct place is akin to doing a puzzle. However, Jenkins, an experienced producer had a vision, which became reality.

‘& Friends’ was mastered by Max Dowling. Myka Wallace designed the distinctive album cover. Now the album was ready for release.

This genre-sprawling album was released in April 2026. ‘& Friends’ is a captivating musical odyssey with surprises aplenty in-store. It’s a case of sit back and enjoy the journey.

The album opener ‘All’ is dark, dramatic and cinematic from the get-go. JNBO combine cinematic soul and funk with slinky jazzy piano and smokey beats. It sounds like part of the soundtrack to a big budget movie full of car chases, stakeouts and deals going down. If the listener closes their eyes they become the director and will be able to visualise all manner of dramatic scenes that this stunning genre-melting track can provide the soundtrack to.

‘Dogs’ sees JNBO combine jazz and funk on what another filmic track. Jazz, funk and library music are the influences on a track that paints pictures.

‘Ten Cent Piece’ sees a drop in tempo and elements of chill out, ambient and hip hop combine. Space has been left in this wistful and majestically melodic arrangement. It’s one of the highlights of ‘& Friends.’

Drums drive ‘Around’ along before the bass, guitars and piano join in. Funk meets cinematic soul before Riley’s Hammond organ takes the track in the direction of soul-jazz. It’s smoking and smouldering track with a band at the top of their game.

‘Missing’ sounds moody, broody and cinematic. It meanders along taking the listener on a journey. They could easily be listening to a track from the soundtrack to an early seventies movie or long-forgotten TV show with good guys, bad guys, double-dealing, double-crossing, subterfuge and drama aplenty. It’s a track that’s akin to a journey back in time for those of us of a certain age.

‘Letting Down’ is a slow, spacious and pensive sounding tracK. It’s also beautiful and encourages reflection as the guitars seem to weep. 

The drums are in the pocket on ‘Letting Go’ as guitars add a sense of melancholy before string sweep. They add to the sense of sadness. Drums then add to the drama on what’s a heartachingly beautiful track.

‘Name’ is a much bolder and muscular sounding track. It’s dark and dramatic and is a bit of a slow burner. When it unfolds it’s well worth the wait. Funk and cinematic soul are combined seamlessly by JNBO. This could easily be a track from a seventies or early-eighties library music album or soundtrack. It’s another example of this truly talented band showcasing their skill and ability to combine disparate musical influences.

Slow, spacious, cinematic and dramatic describes ’False Cut.’ It’s another genre-melting track. Everything from library music and cinematic soul to electronic music and funk are combined to create this carefully sculpted soundscape.

As ‘Blood Nose’ unfolds one wonders where the track is heading. There’s an element of mystery before the track gradually reveals its secrets. JNBO takes the listener on a magical musical mystery tour combining disparate musical genres and influences to create music that’s new, captivating and groundbreaking. With every listen new sounds and nuances reveal themselves.’

Melancholy describes the guitar lead ‘Close.’ The arrangement is understated an spacious allowing this short but beautiful and thought-provoking to breath.

Closing ‘& Friends’ is another filmic-sounding tracks. Drums add drama and a mesmeric, hypnotic sound as brief washes of guitar punctuate the arrangement. It’s a track that’s reminiscent of a seventies library music track.

‘& Friends’ is a flawless twelve track album where JNBO seamlessly combine cinematic soul, funk, jazz, smokey beats, soul-jazz plus ambient, chill out and electronic music. Then there’s the influence of seventies and early-eighties library music. Especially KPM and Bruton. 

Listen carefully and all these genres and influences are combined by JNBO. That’s not all. Add to the mix the influence of everyone from film composers Bernard Herrmann, Roy Budd and John Barry. Then there’s the influence of David Alexrod, while JNBO have the versatility of the Wrecking Crew as they seamlessly switch between styles and genres. There’s also the influence of lounge pioneer Les Baxter and Motown’s Lamont Dozier on these carefully crafted arrangements. They’re the work of bassist Henry Jenkins the masterminded, composed and produced JNBO’s debut album ‘& Friends.’

During this twelve track opus,  Jenkins and this truly talented band paint pictures during ambient and filmic-sounding tracks. Then it’s all change and it’s what’s described as “head-nodding funk.” These tracks are irresistible and so is  the widescreen cinematic soul on ‘& Friends.’ Quite simply, it’s a flawless genre-melting album. It showcases Henry Jenkins ‘& Friends’ as they seamlessly combine and flit between musical genres on what’s without doubt, one of the best albums you’ll hear this year. Quite simply, ‘& Friends’ is an album to buy, and one that you’ll enjoy for many years.

JNBO – & Friends.