Jim Gelcer
Jazz Drummer, Kirtan Artist & Multi-Instrumentalist

Suraaj Parab (00:11): Okay, let's go.

Sandeep (00:20): Today's guest is Jim Gelcer, a chart-topping recording artist, composer, educator, and spiritual practitioner whose work moves across jazz, kirtan, film, and contemplative music.

Suraaj Parab (00:55): Welcome, Jim, to The Artist Conversation.

Jim Gelcer (00:58): Thank you. It's such a pleasure to be here with you, Sandeep and Suraaj. Wonderful to be here.

Sandeep (01:05): The pleasure is all ours. Your resume is so long that I had to cut a few things to narrow it down.

Jim, I wanted to ask: your work moves so naturally between music and spirituality. At what point did you realize those two parts of your life weren't separate paths, but really one?

Jim Gelcer (01:36): Well, I started out just doing the music part, and the spirituality part came later. I started out primarily as a jazz musician, but playing other styles as well. About 30 years ago, I got into practicing yoga, and I ultimately ended up on an ashram doing my yoga teacher training. At that point, I still didn't think the two things would dovetail. I thought, "Okay, I'm doing yoga, and I'm also a jazz musician."

Later on, I got invited to participate in a kirtan and was asked to sing. I was given a blessing by the Swami, who basically said, "You have a gift; you should use this gift."

It was really that Swami who put me on my path. I started to think, "Okay, I can do this, but I also have this jazz background. Let me see if I can incorporate that into the work I do."

Sandeep (03:22): Was that an easy switch when it came to combining the two with your music background?

Jim Gelcer (03:38): It was very natural for me. I've encountered some people who are purists and prefer the traditional sound of East Indian music. Some tell me they love what I do, and some are half-and-half. I had one Swami say to me during a concert at an ashram, "Maybe you could do half traditional and half modern."

My attitude is that I just want to bring people into this music. If I can attract people to this type of music with Western sounds, then on their own, they can later discover the more traditional stuff and decide for themselves what they like. That was my thinking: this is who I am, so let me bring people in the way I know how, and they can decide from there.

Sandeep (05:07): That's a really good way to look at it.

Suraaj Parab (05:12): You have built a career that crosses genres and roles: artist, composer, educator, mentor, and yoga guide. What has stayed constant at the center of all of it?

Jim Gelcer (05:28): The desire to share art with people and to create a bond with them—I think that's what is constant. In yoga, jazz, spiritual music, or any genre I play, I just want to create a bond between me and the audience. That's the most important thing.

I play live a lot, and whenever people come to see me play, I get this comment frequently: "You look like you're having a lot of fun up there." My reaction is: how else should I look? Should I look serious, like I'm having a bad time? I'm doing what I love and sharing music with people, so to me, it's obvious I should look happy. That's the emotion I try to convey.

Sandeep (07:13): That's amazing. I'm a singer-songwriter and performer myself, and I can resonate with what you said. People often tell me the same thing. My response is usually, "If I'm not having fun, how are you going to have fun?"

Jim Gelcer (08:01): Exactly. But I have to say, I do see a lot of musicians who don't look like they're having fun. Some of them are really amazing musicians, but for whatever reason, they feel like they have to look serious. That's okay for them, but that's just not me.

Sandeep (08:38): Your discography feels wide-ranging, but there's a clear thread of reflection and spaciousness running through it. When you create, do you usually start with emotion, melody, silence, or something more intuitive?

Jim Gelcer (09:14): It depends so much. For example, on my Jazz Beethoven album, I wasn't thinking about a new melody—I was thinking about the source material and how to make it our own, taking it into the 21st century.

Inspiration is an elusive thing, and it hits when it hits. Each album has its own process. I was recently singing one of my songs from Bhakti Groove Machine and remembered I wrote it in Costa Rica while listening to the sound of howler monkeys in the jungle. The melody just came to me.

On my latest recording, Quiet Expanse, I used an instrument called a handpan. I was collaborating with a guitar player in LA, Vito Grigoli. I started by improvising on the handpan and sent him a 30-minute recording. Out of that single session came the core ideas for about five of the ten tracks on the album. He chopped out sections to build on, then added sitar, dilruba, and strings. Every project is totally different.

Suraaj Parab (13:50): Projects like Melodies Pure and True and Quiet Expanse suggest a real trust in subtlety and atmosphere. What draws you toward music that invites people inward rather than outward?

Jim Gelcer (14:16): Because I am an inward-looking person. I am an inward, spiritual-seeking person, so the music I put out reflects that and invites others to look inward as well.

Those two albums are so different—one is a vocal jazz album and the other is an instrumental, neoclassical ambient record. Yet they are both parts of me. I would describe them both as conscious music.

Suraaj Parab (15:59): It is a unique quality to have such different characteristics come from the same person while maintaining that commonality.

Sandeep (16:33): You have created work that bridges jazz, classical, and devotional music. How do you know when a piece belongs to a specific genre versus when it simply belongs to the feeling you are trying to convey?

Jim Gelcer (17:41): I tend to be project-oriented. If I am working on a conscious music album, I put my headspace into that. If I am doing a jazz album, my head is in that space.

However, crossover does happen. About three years ago, when the war in Ukraine started, I co-wrote a song called "Mariupol" with Hans Christian to support the Ukrainian Red Cross. It was a neoclassical track with cello. Later, I realized it could work in a jazz combo setting. I arranged it for my jazz band, we played it live, and it fit into the jazz mold seamlessly.

Suraaj Parab (19:57): When people talk about spirituality in music, it can mean many things. For you personally, what makes any piece of music spiritual?

Jim Gelcer (20:24): I think all music is inherently spiritual. The act of making music is a spiritual act.

In the Bhagavad Gita, one of my favorite verses says to do everything in life as an offering to God. When you are making music properly, you enter a space where you drop the sense of self and offer the work up.

One thing I have been working on—and you both know as musicians how hard this is—is making every single note intentional. Playing every note with intention is a spiritual act right there.

Suraaj Parab (22:12): When we create art, we lose ourselves to connect with something bigger than ourselves.

Jim Gelcer (23:08): That is what I tell my students and the young professionals I mentor: whatever you do, keep music as part of your daily life. Life with music in it is better than life without it. Even if you don't make a full-time career out of it, make sure creating music is part of your day.

Sandeep (23:56): You lead a daily practice through Jim's Yoga Cafe. How has a steady yoga practice changed the way you listen, compose, and perform?

Jim Gelcer (24:15): I've been hosting those daily sessions for about three and a half years, though I've taught yoga for over 20 years. I can't imagine my life without it now. Starting the day focused on breathing and body awareness makes anyone a more centered, even-tempered person. When you are in tune with yourself, you are in tune with the people around you and the music you make.

It also directly impacts my creative output. I play music during my classes, and hosting them made me want to compose music tailored for yoga and meditation. That was one of the key reasons we made Quiet Expanse—so yoga teachers and practitioners could use it for their own practice.

Suraaj Parab (29:07): You recently scored a short film that was selected for the Mental Health Warrior Film Festival. When writing music for a story dealing with mental anguish and triumph, what do you feel your responsibility is as a composer?

Jim Gelcer (29:38): That project was very special. It was an eight-minute autobiographical short for a director I've collaborated with on five films. It dealt with the trauma of childhood abuse.

Because of the subject matter, I had to be extremely sensitive to the director's personal history. As a composer, your job is always to collaborate with the director to serve their vision. During our spotting session, we decided where music was needed and where the acting was strong enough to stand alone without a score.

Film scoring requires putting ego aside. Everyone on the crew wants the film to be the best it can possibly be, so I don't take notes personally. We are all working toward the same goal.

Suraaj Parab (35:40): Thank you so much for spending your time with us, Jim. We really appreciate the depth, calm, and intention you bring to your work.

Sandeep (36:04): This conversation was a great reminder that music can be a practice, a presence, and a way of making meaning. Thank you again for joining us.

Suraaj Parab (36:27): To everyone listening, thank you for tuning in. Please check out Jim's work on Spotify, Apple Music, and social media, and join us next time on The Artist Conversation.