Jim Gelcer (born December 16, 1961) is a Canadian jazz drummer, singer, musician, composer, and producer, also known for blending traditional kirtan, a genre of spiritual music from India, with modern influences like R&B,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, and rock.

History

Jim Gelcer was born in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, South Africa and moved to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, Ontario, Canada in 1968. He attended

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music ...

in 1980, studying drums, vibraphone, arranging and improvisation with

Ray Ricker Ramon "Ray" Ricker is a classical and jazz performer, music educator, composer, arranger and author. Ricker was professor of saxophone, director of the Institute for Music Leadership and senior associate dean for professional studies at the Eastm ...

, Bill Dobbins, Dave Ratajczak, and Lee Musiker. In 1984, Gelcer studied jazz with David Mott at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

. Soon afterwards he established himself as a professional musician. Gelcer has performed, recorded, and toured with acts as diverse as

Lee Aaron Lee Aaron (born Karen Lynn Greening; July 21, 1962) is a Canadian rock singer. She had several hits in the 1980s and early 1990s, such as "Metal Queen", "Whatcha Do to My Body", and "Sex with Love". Early life Aaron was born as Karen Lynn Green ...

, and the Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band. He has also worked with

Lorne Lofsky Lorne Lofsky (born May 10, 1954) is a Canadian jazz guitarist who was a member of the Oscar Peterson Quartet. Lofsky began playing rock music at school dances but later took an interest in jazz after hearing the album ''Kind of Blue'' by Miles D ...

Paul Hoffert Paul Matthew Hoffert, LLD, CM (born 22 September 1943 in Brooklyn, New York) is a recording artist, performer, media music composer, author, academic, and corporate executive. He studied mathematics and physics at the University of Toronto. ...

, Don Thompson, Russ Little, Terry Clarke, Pat LaBarbera,

Guido Basso Guido Basso, (born 27 September 1937) is a Canadian jazz musician who was a member of Rob McConnell's Boss Brass big band. He is a trumpeter, flugelhornist, arranger, composer and conductor. Life and career Basso was born in Montreal, Quebec ...

, Steve Wallace, John Sherwood,

Nancy Walker Nancy Walker (born Anna Myrtle Swoyer; May 10, 1922 – March 25, 1992) was an American actress and comedian of stage, screen, and television. She was also a film and television director (lending her talents to ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', on wh ...

, Richard Underhill, George Koller, Reg Schwager, Dave Young and Bratty and the Babysitters. Early in his career, Gelcer composed music for film and television, including ''Price of Vengeance'' (1985), ''The Journal'' on CBC (1985–89), and ''My Happy Days in Hell'' (1994). More recently, Jim teamed with Donald Quan to form ''Gopher Lunch'', a film music recording house and music library.

Kirtan Music

He studied Sivananda Yoga and became serious about Kirtan after a visit to

Sivananda Ashram Sivananda Saraswati (or Swami Sivananda; 8 September 1887 – 14 July 1963) was a yoga guru, a Hindu spiritual teacher, and a proponent of Vedanta. Sivananda was born Kuppuswami in Pattamadai, in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. He st ...

in the

Laurentian mountains The Laurentian Mountains (French: ''Laurentides'') are a mountain range in southern Quebec, Canada, north of the St. Lawrence River and Ottawa River, rising to a highest point of at Mont Raoul Blanchard, northeast of Quebec City in the Laurentid ...

where he was invited to chant in the temple. He completed yoga teacher training at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat in Paradise Island, Bahamas in March 2006, and shortly after that began leading Kirtan. His debut Kirtan recording "Bhagavan" was released in 2010 and hailed as one of the year's best by American radio shows in the Spirit – WRPI FM and Full Lotus Kirtan Show – WCOM FM. Yoga Chicago magazine called him "the perfect bhakti singer". In 2013, Gelcer released his second album, ''Bhakti Groove Machine'', which was recorded with Grammy-nominated producer Ben Leinbach (

Jai Uttal Jai Uttal (born June 12, 1951) is an American musician. He is a Grammy-nominated singer and “a pioneer in the world music community with his eclectic East-meets-West sound.” Biography Uttal grew up in New York City and lived in a home filled ...

, Deva Premal, Snatam Kaur). He performs regularly at yoga studios and temples, along with festivals such as Bhaktifest. From 2012 to 2017, he was musical director for Shri Fest, a

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consci ...

, music and art festival held at Blue Mountain, Ontario.

Discography

*''As Things Unfold'' (2023) with

Hans Christian (musician) Hans Christian (also seen as Hans Christian Reumschüssel and other variations) is a German-born musician and producer now based in the U.S. in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Christian is a multi-instrumentalist (bass guitar, cello, nyckelharpa, and sa ...

*''Warrior Spirit'' (2022) with

*''Resistance'' (2022) with

*''Mariupol'' (2022) with

*''Reconcile (Entheo Remix Ambient Version)'' (2022) with DTO, Brenda McMorrow, Entheo *''Do Androids Dream of Savasana'' (2021) *''Reconcile'' (2020) with DTO, Brenda McMorrow *''I Got Your Back'' (2020) with Don Breithaupt *''Cape Town to Kolkata'' (2019) *''Jim and Paul play Glenn and Ludwig'' (2018) with

, George Koller *''Awakening (I Am Not This Body)'' (2017) *''Melodies Pure and True'' (2016) *''Going Om'' (2014) with Donald Quan *''Bhakti Groove Machine'' (2013) *''How High The Bird'' (2011) with

*''Bhagavan'' (2010) As side musician: *Jon Mullane, ''The Sun in the Summertime'' (2023) songwriter *Jon Mullane, ''Feels Like Christmas'' (2021) drums, songwriter *Michael Moon, ''Earth Song'' (2016) drums *Fraz, ''Hear'' (2001) drums *

, ''

'' (1987) keyboards, vocals *Bratty and the Babysitters, In A State (1987) keyboards, percussion *Johnny Lovesin, ''Tough Breaks'' (1986) keyboards As producer: *Jim Gelcer / Paul Hoffert Trio featuring George Koller, ''Jim and Paul play Glenn and Ludwig'' (2018) Co-produced with

*Jim Gelcer, ''Awakening (I Am Not This Body)'' (2017) Co-produced with Anjelica *Jim Gelcer, ''Melodies Pure and True'' (2016) *Shantdeep, ''Om The Water'' (2016) *Jim Gelcer & Donald Quan, ''Going OM'' (2014) Co-produced with Donald Quan *Devorah / Love Child, ''Love is All'' (2013) Co-produced with Chris Gartner *Jim Gelcer, ''Bhakti Groove Machine'' (2013) Co-produced with Ben Leinbach *Jim Gelcer / Paul Hoffert Trio, ''How High The Bird'' (2011) Co-produced with

*Charlie Ringas / Don Valley Parkway, ''News Wave'' (1990) Co-produced with Charlie Ringas

Digital media

Gelcer worked with the

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

digital media start up, Noank Media Inc., as the Vice President of Content Acquisition and Business Development and later Chief Operating Officer. Noank Media Inc. aimed to license and distribute digital content globally while fairly compensating content owners, using the most efficient, sustainable, and effective business and technology systems. They successfully demonstrated their proprietary digital media exchange platform and reached a partnership with CERNET (China Education and Research Network).

Board positions

He has served on the boards of several arts organizations including the

Glenn Gould Foundation The Glenn Gould Foundation is a registered Canadian charitable organization based in Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Friends, colleagues and admirers of the celebrated Canadian pianist Glenn Gould established the foundation in 1983 after his ...

from 2010 to 2013 as Fundraising Chair, Toronto Summer Music Festival, Via Salzburg Chamber Orchestra, and Mariposa in the Schools.

References

External links

Jim Gelcer Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gelcer, Jim 1961 births Living people Canadian male singer-songwriters Canadian singer-songwriters Canadian record producers Canadian television composers Canadian film score composers Male film score composers Canadian jazz musicians Canadian jazz drummers Canadian male drummers Canadian jazz singers Canadian male singers Canadian world music musicians Jewish Canadian musicians Musicians from Toronto World music singers Kirtan performers Musicians from Cape Town Canadian male jazz musicians