Gary Kurfirst died Tuesday while vacationing in Nassau, Bahamas. He was 61.

I'm shocked.
 
My firm, the Howard Bloom Organization, Ltd, represented The Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense, a film that would not have existed without Gary.
 
Yes, he was much, much too young.
 
Howard


He was a real music man. Check the facts. Veterans of the real glory days will always respect that. God bless him and his family

Chris Apostle


Another of the music business' integral blockbuilders has passed on....I had worked with Gary over the years a few times.....He was a true honest and genuine human being and I will say a prayer for him.....
 
Al Marks


I have promoted all of Gary's bands at one time or another and enjoyed knowing him immensely. The rock world takes a big hit with his sudden departure and makes me think of taking stock even more in everything I do and everyone I know in this business I have built my life around.
 
God bless everyone for their desire to make our lives better and more human, and God bless Gary for letting me be a small part of his wonderful life. He will be missed. My condolences to his family and great friends who are hurting right now.

Danny Zelisko


I have never chosen to write back on anything I have read over the years. I have often thought I may want to contribute or better yet argue with others about the state of our business or the people that run it, but always decided against it.

But the untimely passing of Gary Kurfirst really knocked the wind out of me. He represents all that was great about our business and so much of what is missing now. He ran hard on instinct and belief in the individual. If you earned his trust he would stand in front of a train for you. If he respected your taste, he had all the time in the world for you. Mostly though, if you had a strong point of view he would sit and talk it through with you as if time stood still.

I was fortunate to have done quite a bit of business with him and am so much the better for it.

To say he will be missed is really an understatement. He is part of the fabric of what was great about our life that is music.

I'm going to go home, put on a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, grab a drink and remember that laugh.

Gary Gersh


gary kurfirst was extraordinarily pure.  he was a funny cat, too.  miami
beach/circa 1990's...the raleigh hotel lobby...mid morning...gary...me...our
golf clubs...AND traci lords. just another day. (fortunately, i have a photo
to prove it!)

an icon has passed.  safe travels, my friend. 

les garland


Dear Josh,
 
You, I am sure are extremely very proud of your Dad.  He was and will always be a Pioneer of this Industry. As a promoter, I invested money in many of his visions and his vision was great.  Most of the time it came through Barbara & Frank at Premier Talent and I did not know him well.
 
I am so sorry for your loss, however, you are so lucky to have a Father who mentored you and sounds that he was involved in your life. Maybe, we should all have a convention of the "risk takers" and leave the corporate suits at home.
 
I am sure you will do wonderfully in the industry, you had great training.  My thoughts are with you and your family
 
Ivy Bauer
www.ivypresents.com
 

This is very surreal and sad.

I met Gary when he was partnered with Bud Prager in 1970 and I drummed for Mylon, the gospel rock band from Atlanta managed by Bud and Gary. We toured with Ten Years After, The Who, Traffic and opened over 100 shows with Mountain. After the band broke up, it was Gary who gave me Free's bassist Andy Fraser's number and we started a group on Island.

Gary was so connected to musicians that you either had an instant bond with him or you were a fake. He had the best ears of anyone when it came to sounds and records....he knew.

One night at his house in upstate NY circa 1974 he had gotten a tape from England. It was  "How Long" by Ace and he must have played it about 200 times...grinning and knowing that it was a great "record" and we all listened to it before it was released and knew it would be number one in ten minutes....the heart, soul and passion of music...

That he has passed away within 3 weeks of Bud is a double blow to my heart. These kind of guys changed my life...and they never stopped loving this world of music.....rest in peace Gar!

Marty Simon


The thing I remember most about Gary was that he was such a huge music fan, always wanted to know what new music was inspiring me. Gary was one of the good ones and always followed up with whatever he promised.

He'll be missed.  

Best, Vicky Hamilton


amen to all this...I only knew Gary slightly but found him to be a positive
force in the music business...

--Randall Grass/Shanachie Entertainment


He was one of the first people in the business to support me. And I don't mean emotionally -- he got MCA to bring BigChampagne into the building and got us _paid_. No reason he should have done that (I was a total outsider) except that Live was so excited by Napster, Ed was friendly with Shawn Fanning and Gary fought hard on our behalf.

I remember him fondly -- and yes the art collection was unforgettable.  Thanks for forwarding Josh's note.

Eric Garland


Bob,

Was just forwarded the letter from Josh. I got to know Gary very well when we both had our labels @ MCA(ugh....) at the same time, and I remained close with him over the years. He had the passion that is so hard to find,and he was a true music man in the greatest tradition.
 
Mike Jacobs


The interesting thing to me is that as I read the below thinking I had no idea who Gary Kurfirst was, I kept getting this nagging feeling. Went back and checked the judges for this LAMN 'jam' contest that a band I was in at the time played last year. One of the judges was Brendan Bourke - who works at Kurfirst-Blackwell Ents and was GM of Radioactive at a time that a band I tour managed and befriended was signed to them. The same night I met Brendan I found out that the guitarist from said previously signed band had produced a couple songs for the band I had joined - who was led by a guy I'd toured with in totally separate circumstances. They had met through some mutual friend in LA. I was happy that this old Radioactive artist was still pursuing his music (and producing) because I always felt he was the true talent in the band.

The point of that long winded detour being, that Gary's influence and empowerment to artists is probably experienced on an indirect level on a daily basis by many musicians/artists. I wouldn't have known that Gary broke some of my favorite artists over the years had I not done a little research on Brendan and found out who he worked for. The passing of anyone that persistent and resolute in their view of music and artists is always a loss that affects all the lovers of the same - the world gets a little dumber, a little more corporate, a little more homogenized when people like Gary depart from this mortal coil of ours; a la your earlier point about Steve Jobs.  My deepest condolences for Josh's loss.

-a.guy johnson


Bob,

Been reading your emails now for a while but this is the first time that I've felt compelled to write.

I'm very upset to hear about Gary Kurfirst's passing. As you know, Gary was a local concert promoter in Forest Hills, New York back in the late 60's. At the time, I was a 17 year old high school student from Forest Hills High, and all I cared about back then was photography and rock music. A couple of my buddies and I brought some photos up to the Concept Concerts office above Austin Street, thinking that it was a ticket office and maybe if someone up there liked the prints we could score some free tickets for their next concert. It turned out that it wasn't a ticket office, it was Gary's and his partner Shelley Finkel's office.

I have an absolutely indelible memory of meeting Gary for the first time as he was sitting on the fire escape outside the window of that second floor office swigging milk right from the carton. He looked at the prints we'd brought him....he liked them, so he and Shelley started letting me in to all the concerts they were promoting all over the NYC area in '68/'69, and beyond. I remember that when I started getting pictures actually published in various music magazines, I'd bring the issues backstage and he would beam like a proud papa. Without his encouragement,(and without having Gary as my patron in those days), I'm certain that I would never have had any sort of  career in photography, unless it was shooting family portraits at Sears-not quite like being on the road with led Zeppelin, or the Who.....

After I moved to Los Angeles in 1971, I rarely ran into Gary...the bands I worked for never seemed to cross his path when I was with them- but I think of those days so often, and I am so blessed that Gary gave this pimply 17 year old photo buff the support and encouragement I needed- 40 years ago- to put me on the path to a dream career.

-Neal Preston


when there are no words that can do justice it makes knowing that something has to be said beyond impossible. yet it is here, in this place, that i have learned the most from him.

i worked for him for years, our offices were in his home, and though there was little to be told the one thing i know was that he knew just how 'wet behind the ears' i was.

that was until the day it had rained.

Gary's presents was seldom in the office but that morning he was there and stayed throughout the day. the rain gave way about an hour before the sun had begun to set, just shortly before i left the office, and it was on my way home i saw a rainbow over head. it was then i recalled overhearing a conversation where Gary had expressed his appreciation for this spectacle of mother nature.

just before i got to Sunset i pulled over and called to share with him what i had seen. i knew that he was inside and wasn't able to see it for himself but knowing what i had known i knew he would appreciate the call.

until that moment Gary and i had very few conversations and communication was what you would expect from two opposite ends of the spectrum. that being the said my original idea was just to leave a message to let him know that he should go outside and see it for himself.

i did just that.

i thought that if i had passed it along that sometime during the following day i would have heard the words, thank you, and from a man that had very few words to share.

i was hoping for nothing more than an acknowledgement that he appreciated that i had an appreciation for his appreciation, but before i could hang up the phone and put the car into drive he called me.

he didn't call to say thank you for what i had done.

he called to share in the appreciation together.

our conversation may have been brief but it was in that moment that i realized that the 'pot of gold' was not at the end of the rainbow but in the connection that is shared along the way.

words may not be able to do you justice Gary but carrying on what i have learned from you just may.

thank you.

steven king


Oh man,

This is rotten.

Hugo Burnham


Hi Bob

A quick note about Gary , but first and foremost my sincere condolences to Gary's family.

My mother was in the same business as Gary's father in NY. Both tough old school NY Jews in the garment industry. When I was 13 after going to a Mountain concert at the old Felt Forum, I discovered there were "roadies" , well the bug had bit me. My mother then "introduced" me to Gary by bringing me a New York Rock Festival Program, which I still have. And telling me about this friend's son who was producing Rock shows at 20!

I wrote him a letter which he recalled many years later when we spoke. He was the first person who was really in the business that I knew, ( albeit 2nd hand)  and it served as an inspiration to me. We never got the opportunity to work together but I felt somehow connected to him. He was well liked, repected and very fair as I hear from many friends that have worked for his acts. I hope that his legacy serves us well.  reminds most of us that we do this cause we love music, the rush of doing what we love and that as a manager or a roadie your creativity is integral to the Artist's you work with. Above all else integrity and honesty.

Gary we mourn your passing all to soon, but we continue to celebrate your life and the model you created.

RIP

Bobby Schneider


Hi Bob. I actually wrote you a while back to tell you that Gary (as our former manager) was the first person to turn my band onto your blog. He constantly forwarded snippets and sometimes full emails of yours to advise us on what course to take with our career. He was one of the most forward thinking people in the music business..period. From my point of view he "understood" music as much or more then any musician I've ever known. He was also a cunning businessman and he saved our band in 2002 when we were in one of the most difficult places a band can be.....and he did it truly for sake of the music. He was a rare breed and his loss is a tremendous loss to the music business and every artist that every worked with him.

Ed from Lake Trout


I worked on The soundtrack for Siesta.
It was a gutsy move to make such an artsy movie and to have a soundtrack with Miles Davis and Marcus Miller showed vision and no compromise when it came to the music. It's still a great soundtrack that stands on it's own.

RIP Gary

Peace, Jason Miles


Gary Kurfirst was a giant.  Please pass along my condolences to Josh.


Mike Bone



How does one write something about a guy that was a father to his daughter & son? For which he loved them beyond words could describe and to His wife, a friend and lover. His acts that he managed were his life and always stood fast for them. I knew him from when he played short stop & Leslie West as third base or visa versa. He will always be a friend, comrade and soul brother. I will never forget his memory therefore never forget him.
 
Bert Padell


interesting that they went in proximity. we did alot-windfall and beyond- some famous/some not. what resonates beyond their obvious intelligence and street wisdom was the sense of grace and fairness they brought to the table.

murray krugman