The Nearness is an album by saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom which was recorded in 1995 and released on the Arabesque label the following year.

[1][2][3] The AllMusic review by Chris Kelsey said "If forced to choose between this eminently thoughtful soprano saxophonist's writing and improvising, I'd have to say it's her original tunes that might keep me coming back.

She gets a full, gently-inflected, well-centered sound on her finicky horn -- the kind that only a full-time soprano player can produce with consistency.

But I think it's the sophistication of her contexts that fixes her among the modern mainstream's elite".

[4] Jeff Simon of The Buffalo News gave the record four stars out of four, calling it "a superb disc.