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Dan Kurfirst

@drum_tone_speak

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Music and word to support freedom. Live from the great silence.

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Well Pony clearly took a liking to @drum_tone_speak 🤣 @terzicbrandon might be a little jealous but that’s ok because she also tried to eat one of Dan’s shakers. Good thing I noticed the slightly irregular rattling before it was too late.

You can’t see this quartet but the trio will be playing Sunday at 7pm @shapeshifterlab So if you haven’t bought your tickets yet, grab them now. Link is in my bio.

#theporchsessions #rabbitsfoot #newporchmusic #livingmusic #musicisbettertogether by @drum_tone_speak

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8 days ago

Looking forward to playing @pyengthreadgill and @terzicbrandon wonderful music this Sunday at @shapeshifterlab by @drum_tone_speak

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9 days ago

I wanna see youuuuuuuu

Music is so much better together. Come out to The Porch Sessions this Sunday, October 11th at 7pm @shapeshifterlab for a little musical rest. I’ll be playing one set with our group Rabbit’s Foot with @terzicbrandon and special guest @drum_tone_speak on percussion.

#newporchmusic #theporchsessions #musicalreststop #soulmusic #fillyoursoul by @drum_tone_speak

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10 days ago

we have TWO Brooklyn shows to help kick off the fall season — one up north at Williamsburg’s Fiction Bar, another down south at Ditmas Park’s own Bad Therapy. we have NEW arrangements from artists like Moby and Dorian Concept as well as all our old favorites.

WAVEFORMS is:

Dan Lehner - trombone
Allison Philips - trumpet
Fima Chupakhin - piano
Marty Isenberg - bass
Dan Kurfirst - drums

both shows are FREE with suggested donation — come hang out with us!

Flyer by me. by @drum_tone_speak

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a month ago

06 / 09 / 2026 at Children’s Magical Garden, Anders Nilsson , Dan Kurfirst & ken Filiano , downtown jazz , jazz trio , guitar, drums , bass , effects , downtown music , street music , out doors music , nyc jazz #downtownjazz #gardenmusic by @drum_tone_speak

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a month ago

Exploring the astralscapes with some stellar cats @andersnilssonguitar and Ken Filiano. Thanks to @artsforart for having us and to @michaudstefan for the video. by @drum_tone_speak

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a month ago

Come join the creations. Arkinetics + @true_east_music at @think.olio lighthouse this Thursday 8/13. 7pm doors. Arkinetics: @gervismyles (bass) @andersnilssonguitar (guitar) @marceloalexi (keys) @roshni_samlal (tabla) 🪘True East: @danlehnermusic (trombone) @brahmmasla (drums) Violet Reiss (bass) Ticket link in bio. Love always! by @drum_tone_speak

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2 months ago

an excellent double bill across African, Latin and Southeast Asian sounds in the spirit of avant- jazz coming August 13th at Olio Lighthouse — Dan Kurfirst’s Arkinetics and Dan Lehner’s True East.

Ticket link (also in bio): viewcy.com/event/creative_music_night

True East is:

Dan Lehner - trombone
Violet Reiss - bass
Brahm Masla - drums

Arkinetics is:

Anders Nilsson - guitar
Alexis Marcelo - keys
Gervis Miles - bass
Roshni Samlal - tabla
Dan Kurfirst - drums/soundscapes

Night starts at 7:00 by @drum_tone_speak

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3 months ago

WAVEFORMS plays at Culture Lab LIC for the first time for their FREE Sunset Jazz series! Come out on 6/19 at 8:00 to listen to arrangements of Squarepusher, Thundercat, Autechre, Boards of Canada and many more. RSVP link in bio.

WAVEFORMS is

Dan Lehner - trombone
Allison Philips - trumpet
Fima Chupakhin - piano
Marty Isenberg - bass
Dan Kurfirst - drums taken in Culture Lab LIC by @drum_tone_speak

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4 months ago

I don’t normally feel the need to post anything when a musical hero leaves the planet, but I have to say that in my opinion, James Blood Ulmer embodied the entire history and spectrum of African American music as much as anyone. He has been at the top of my pyramid since I became acquainted with what he was doing. I got to hang with him one on one a few times and the transmission was overwhelming. There are countless stories worth relaying, and I’ll try to write about this in a more extended way in the coming days - but for now ill share one anecdote as close to verbatim as I can remember it. “I had this gig over there […pointing somewhere in soho or the village I think…], Wes Montgomery was in the audience…so I’m playing the whole first set looking at him….i walk up to him afterwards….he don’t say nothing….the 2nd set I’m playing all his licks…doing everything I can…he don’t say nothin….then I play the third set, lookin at him playin everything he plays…he don’t even look at me….so I said ‘man fuck this!’ And I went home and tuned the entire guitar the same note on all the strings”. —-BORN AGAIN!!!! If you haven’t heard before…the solo music he was making for the last decade or so of his career is IT!! Innalilahi wa Ilayhi Rajiun….from the source we come and to the source we return….we love you James Blood - thank you for a life of service through music by @drum_tone_speak

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4 months ago

Some years back, a concept came to me that I think of as “playing UP”

What does it mean?

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

What is the opposite reaction when we strike the drumhead?

It is possible to play from a mental orientation of feeling these “up” strokes as much as the down strokes.

Try it and see what happens.

One possibility - the down is the attack, the up is the decay - if we play the decay as much as the attack, every note we play will be more meaningful because it is played with respect to the entirety of the tonal resonance preceding by it.

We may play less. #drumming #spiritualdrumming #jazzdrums #freemusic by @drum_tone_speak

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6 months ago

As #sunra wisely told us, “The planet is asleep and it’s the flat of musicians who are untrue to themselves”. The literal truth of this statement, is examined in my New piece up on dankurfirstmusic.com/writing. This came out of a workshop/concert that Arkinetics did with @think.olio - discussing the concept of jazz mastery as a process of uncovering an expressing one’s uniqueness. A great opportunity to formulate some thoughts that are always swimming around. Would love to know what you think 🙏 by @drum_tone_speak

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6 months ago