Jim Gelcer

• Name — Jim Gelcer • Born — 16 December 1961 • Birthplace — Cape Town, South Africa • Origin — Toronto, Ontario, Canada • Genre — Kirtan, jazz, world, • Instruments — Vocals, guitar • Years Active — 1985–present • Website — gelcer.com

Jim Gelcer was born in Cape Town, South Africa and moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1968. He attended Eastman School of Music in 1980, studying drums, vibraphone, arranging and improvisation with Ray Ricker, Bill Dobbins, Dave Ratajczak, and Lee Musiker. In 1984, Gelcer studied jazz with David Mott at York University. Soon afterwards he established himself as a professional musician. Gelcer has performed, recorded, and toured with acts as diverse as Lee Aaron, and the Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band. He has also worked with Lorne Lofsky, Paul Hoffert, Don Thompson, Russ Little, Terry Clarke, Pat LaBarbera, Guido Basso, Steve Wallace, John Sherwood, Nancy Walker, 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.

He studied Sivananda Yoga and became serious about Kirtan after a visit to Sivananda Ashram in the Laurentian Mountains 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, Deva Premal, Snatam Kaur). He performs regularly at yoga studios and temples, along with festivals such as Bhaktifest. He also teaches a daily yoga class on the meditation app Insight Timer. From 2012 to 2017, he was musical director for Shri Fest, a yoga, music and art festival held at Blue Mountain, Ontario.

Gelcer worked with the Harvard University 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).

He has served on the boards of several arts organizations including the Glenn Gould Foundation from 2010 to 2013 as Fundraising Chair, Toronto Summer Music Festival, Via Salzburg Chamber Orchestra, and Mariposa in the Schools.