''Soft Hands'' is a 2007 jazz album featuring trio led by

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

Ron McClure Ron McClure (born November 22, 1941) is an American jazz bassist. Early life McClure was born in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. He started on piano at age five, and later played accordion and bass. McClure studied privately with Joseph I ...

and also featuring

tenor saxophonist The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

Rich Perry Rich Perry is an American jazz tenor saxophonist from Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland, Ohio. Perry attended Bowling Green State University for a year before moving to New York. He toured with the Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1975 and with The Thad Jones ...

and

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where ...

George Colligan George Colligan (born December 29, 1969) is an American jazz pianist, organist, drummer, trumpeter, educator, composer, and bandleader. Early life and education Colligan was born in New Jersey and raised in Columbia, Maryland. He attended the P ...

, here playing

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

. The album features eight mid-tempo tracks and ballads penned by McClure. Released on

SteepleChase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

(SCCD 31615), the album is being distributed by

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

Reception

The album is listed as one of the "Core Collection" albums in ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by ...

''. In the later

The Penguin Jazz Guide ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled b ...

the authors reflected "These eight tunes are the work of a mature and assured composer and the drummer less format keeps the tempos open enough to allow at least some of the songs to change direction internally" ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growth ...

'' singled out the title track, "Fortune Gardens", "I Never Knew" and "Gates of Saffron" as particularly notable, commenting that with these songs "the trio achieves a collective weaving of lines that is memorable, each player feeding off the ideas of the others", lifting it into the realm of "music of the contemplative."

Track listing

All tracks written by Ron McClure #"Life Took Over" – 7:58 #"Altered Bells" – 7:33 #"May Day" – 7:10 #"Fortune Gardens" – 8:28 #"I Never Knew" – 6:54 #"Soft Hands" – 7:08 #"Gates of Saffron" – 8:52 #"Marble Room" – 11:18

Personnel

–

Piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

– Bass,

liner Notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

– Sax (tenor) *Jon Rosenberg –

Audio engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

*Nils Winther –

Photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

References

{{Authority control Ron McClure albums 2007 albums George Colligan albums Rich Perry albums SteepleChase Records albums