Jory Kinjo is a Calgary-based bassist, vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, producer and bandleader whose nearly three-decade long career has taken him from the city's most iconic clubs to New York recording studios, European festivals and Japanese concert stages.

His career is difficult to reduce to a genre — and that's precisely the point.

Kinjo has built his musical life around soul, groove, roots, collaboration and live performance, moving naturally between blues, R&B, funk, reggae, ska, rocksteady, jazz and acoustic songwriting.

He began his professional career with Calgary's celebrated soul/R&B institution Mocking Shadows, joining the band at the age of 19. With the Shadows, Kinjo developed the musical foundation that would define much of his career: deep-pocket bass playing, powerful vocals, horn-driven groove and an instinct for connecting with an audience.

Mocking Shadows hit the road extensively and opened for the legendary B.B. King on three of his Canadian tours. The band also shared stages with an extraordinary range of artists including Buddy Guy, ZZ Top, The Tragically Hip, Wide Mouth Mason, Randy Bachman, Colin James, the Downchild Blues Band, Reba McEntire and LeAnn Rimes, the Powder Blues Band, Three Dog Night, and many others.

THE SKA & REGGAE CONNECTION

In 2007, Kinjo toured Europe as bassist with Montreal's The Planet Smashers, including an appearance at Belgium's Groezrock Festival alongside Bad Religion.

That tour became a turning point.

Kinjo immersed himself in the genre and eventually formed Jory Kinjo & the Relays, a band that became a significant part of Canada's reggae and ska community.

The Relays performed at the Montreal Ska Festival and Victoria Ska Festival and shared stages with some of the most influential names in the international scene, including Fishbone, The English Beat, The Slackers and The Aggrolites, as well as Ziggy Marley, The Wailers, UB40 and Sublime.

Kinjo's connection to that community eventually led him to New York, where he became a frequent collaborator with The Slackers, Vic Ruggiero and saxophonist David Hillyard & the Rocksteady 7.

His collaboration with Slackers frontman Vic Ruggiero has produced multiple recordings, including Stand Clear of the Closing Doors, recorded in Brooklyn, and Vic & Jory Sing the Blues, recorded live off the floor at Calgary's Bette Jane Studios.

Kinjo, Ruggiero and NYC guitarist Simon Chardiet later formed The Mooks, recording Come On & Save Me. The album includes Kinjo's original songs and has subsequently received an international vinyl release.

Kinjo's collaboration with Angelo Moore, legendary vocalist and multi-instrumentalist of Fishbone, has become another important part of his musical network. In 2025, Kinjo joined Moore, Ruggiero and Chardiet for a special collaborative engagement at Calgary's Ironwood. CKUA described the four musicians as trailblazers joining forces, trading songs and styles.

A CONNECTION TO MUSICAL HISTORY

Kinjo's résumé extends well beyond the ska world.

He has performed with legendary musicians such as Ndugu Chancler, Bobby Vega, Gerry Brown, Randy Cooke, Doug Riley and Larry McDonald. Musicians whose own careers connect directly to some of the most important names in modern music, including Michael Jackson, Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, Ringo Starr, Mick Jagger, Sly Stone, Tower of Power, Bob Marley, Toots & the Maytals, Gil Scott-Heron and Taj Mahal.

Over the course of his career, Kinjo has performed in over a dozen countries across North America, Europe and Asia.

THE KINJO BROTHERS

Music has always been a family affair.

In 2010, Jory began performing internationally with his brothers as the Kinjo Brothers. Their musical relationship led to repeated trips to Japan, including performances at Okinawa's Naha Matsuri Festival and the World Uchinanchu Taikai, with appearances broadcast through Japanese television and radio.

The Kinjo Brothers became another expression of the family's musical identity — connecting Canadian roots with their Okinawan heritage.

PRODUCER, PROMOTER & RECORD MAKER

Kinjo's influence extends beyond the stage.

Kinjo has produced Alberta tours featuring international artists including The Slackers, The Aggrolites and Chris Murray, helping bring several of those artists to Alberta.

He also co-founded Kimberlite Records, a boutique label devoted to rare and original soul 45s, with releases distributed internationally.

These ventures reflect something fundamental about Kinjo's career: he has never been interested solely in advancing his own music. He has consistently worked to create opportunities for musicians, connect scenes and bring international roots music to Canadian audiences.

MOCKING SHADOWS

Through all these musical adventures, Mocking Shadows has remained an important part of Kinjo's identity.

Founded in Calgary in the 1990s, the band became one of Canada's respected soul and R&B groups, releasing multiple albums and developing a reputation for high-energy live performances.

For Kinjo, the band remains the musical home where his love of the genre and horn-driven arrangements first became fully formed.

KINJO & YOUNG

Today, Kinjo's musical world comes together in several projects, most notably Kinjo & Young, his acoustic roots duo with guitarist, vocalist and producer Aaron Young.

Young brings his own extraordinary résumé to the partnership, including five years with the international production Barrage, extensive touring across Asia, Europe and North America, more than 7,500 live performances and over 180 album-production credits.

Together, Kinjo & Young strip the music down to its essentials: two voices, sophisticated guitar and bass, deep musical chemistry, original songwriting and decades of experience listening to an audience.

The duo's recordings and live performances have earned significant recognition. Kinjo & Young won a 2023 YYC Music Award for Blues Recording of the Year and received a 2024 Western Canadian Music Award nomination for Blues Artist of the Year.

Jory Kinjo has spent nearly 30 years moving through the world's roots-music communities, learning from legendary musicians, building relationships across borders and generations, and bringing those experiences back to Calgary.

He isn't defined by one band, one genre or one era.

He's a musician's musician, a bandleader, a collaborator, a producer and a connector — someone who has spent a lifetime proving that the most interesting musical careers are rarely straight lines.