Each year, a panel of music and audio critics from different genres selects the winners of the Music Pen Club Awards. For the 2023 winners, I covered them in issues #247, #248, and #249 of this column. For the year 2024, Sadao Watanabe’s “PEACE” won the Best Award in the Popular Music Category. The award ceremony for the 2025 winners was held this past April. Let’s take a look at a few of the award-winning albums among them.
#325 Pop Album with Profound Spiritual Themes
Prema / Fujii Kaze
(Universal Music UMCK-1798)
Amid the release of many outstanding J-POP albums, “Prema,” released in the fall of 2025 by Fujii Kaze — one of the leading artists in Japan’s pop music scene — was selected for the Best Award in the Popular Music Category. This album, his third, comes three years after his previous release and features songs with entirely English lyrics.
The album’s title, “Prema,” comes from Sanskrit and means “selfless love.” Throughout the album, he explores questions about the true nature of love. The album unfolds like a story, featuring songs with spiritual themes ranging from the title track to ＜Love Like This,＞ which explores the essence of love within the human heart; ＜You,＞ which sings of the relativity of love; and ＜Forever Young,＞ which conveys the message that the soul never ages and love is eternal. Despite the profound spirituality embodied in the works, the music is entirely accessible, with danceable elements. It appears to have been highly acclaimed by Pen Club members for presenting universal messages that resonate with the whole world, set to catchy pop sounds.
#326 Christian’s Latest Release Featuring Star Guest Vocalists
WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, VOL.1 / Christian McBride
(Mack Avenue ⇒ King Records KICJ-877)
Christian McBride’s latest album is featured here; I have featured several albums by this one of today’s top bassists in this column (No. 182, No. 197). The latest album from this orchestra, led by Christian, features a spectacular concept in which a different top singer joins the ensemble for each piece, and it received the International Section Award in the Popular Music Category.
The opening track on this album, ＜Murder by Numbers,＞ is a 1983 piece by the popular rock band The Police. In addition to Sting on vocals, guitarist Andy Summers also appears on this track. The vocals on the next track, ＜Back in Love Again,＞ are by Jeffrey Osborne. This track, a major 1977 hit by L.T.D., the group for which Jeffrey served as lead vocalist, is exceptionally danceable. ＜Old Folks＞ is sung by jazz vocalist Samara Joy. “It’s kind of a wonder that she sounds like such a veteran even though she’s so young,” Christian said. “I can’t even imagine what kind of singer she’ll become 25 or 30 years from now.” It is truly spectacular to see everyone from the much-talked-about Jose James and Cecile McLorin Salvant to the veteran Dianne Reeves showcasing their unique charm on a single album. Of course, the intensity unleashed by the Christian big band is extraordinary as well. And to close the album, the orchestra performs Christian’s original piece, ＜Op. 49 - Cold Chicken Suite, 3rd Movement.＞ I should also add that this album won “Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album” at this year’s Grammy Awards.
#327 Beautiful Vocal and Piano Duet Recorded in Special Space
SHIKIORI / Sinne Eeg & Jacob Christoffersen
(Tokyo M-Plus JSTUCD-25032)
An album recorded at “SHIKIORI” by Danish singer Sinne Eeg and pianist Jacob Christoffersen during their visit to Japan in the fall of 2024 won the Best Recording Award in the Audio Category[咲白2.1] for its quality. Sinne Eeg captivates the audience with her warm expression and a voice full of clarity. Jacob’s piano playing is not just accompaniment. He freely expands on the imagery, creating a beautiful collaboration.
Nestled in a rural area of Fukuoka Prefecture, “Shikiori” is a music space created by double bassist Seigo Matsunaga, who renovated a 150-year-old traditional Japanese house. Sinne and Jakob first visited this place over a decade ago. The album project came to fruition after the duo made numerous trips to Japan and expressed a strong desire to record at Shikiori. That “special space” was the perfect setting for their music, imbued with a serene, lyrical quality, and the award-winning result stems from how vividly the space’s atmosphere, distinct from that of a studio, was captured. Songs like ＜Losing You＞ and ＞Don’t Be So Blue＞ really showcase Sinne’s talent for songwriting. ＜Hebi＞ is said to be a song born from the memory of her first visit to this place. Among Jakob’s works, four pieces are included, such as ＜Soba Flower＞, which also conveys the impression of his first visit to the place. The album also includes five standard numbers, such as ＜Lush Life＞ and ＜But Not For Me.＞ In terms of audio performance, this album has been described by experts as a “touchstone for audio systems,” where “the higher the playback precision, the more the vocals stand out, soaring and taking on a vibrant, lifelike quality. It is precisely because this is a small ensemble — a vocal and piano duo —that the accuracy of reproducing their spatial expression[咲白3.1] is put to the test.
About the Author
Masamichi Okazaki
Surrounded by various kinds of music from his childhood, Masamichi Okazaki joined Waseda University Modern Jazz Club. He started contributing articles to music magazines when he was a student. He covers wide range of music not only trad, modern and contemporary jazz, but also from pops to classics. He writes liner notes for CDs and LPs, and is a regular contributor to “JAZZ JAPAN,” “STEREO,” and others. He joined a big band, “Shiny Stockings,” as a saxophone player. He is a director of The Music Pen Club Japan (MPCJ).
