Start with Bhagavan, Jim Gelcer's debut kirtan album. It's where his approach is clearest: Sanskrit devotional chants sung plainly, with live instrumentation underneath and a jazz musician's ear shaping the arrangements without crowding the words. It's also the record that led Yoga Chicago magazine to call him "the perfect bhakti singer." Listen to it once straight through, without multitasking, before sampling anything else.
***Bhakti Groove Machine* (2013).** Produced by Grammy-nominated Ben Leinbach, this is the natural second step. It's more polished and groove-oriented than Bhagavan, and it shows Gelcer pushing the form without abandoning the tradition.
***Cape Town to Kolkata* (2019).** The title nods to his birthplace in South Africa and the Indian devotional tradition he took up later. It places kirtan inside his larger life as a working musician.
***Quiet Expanse* (2025).** His latest album, released July 25, 2025, runs ten tracks and is the most spacious thing he's made. If you want to know where he is now, finish here. For something shorter, try the 2025 singles Healing, Hope, Floating Waves and Flow. His solo piano-leaning take on Satie's Gymnopédie No. 1 is the odd one out and worth hearing as a sign of his range.
Outside the recordings, he teaches a daily yoga class on Insight Timer. It's the most direct way to hear his voice and pacing without production around it.
Expect restraint. His voice is a warm alto aimed at clarity rather than display, and harmonium usually anchors the sound. The jazz training shows up in chord voicings, harmonic movement and an instinct for leaving space. The pacing is deliberate, and recent work will sometimes stay with a single phrase for minutes. The feel is closer to chamber music than to a festival singalong. You're meant to settle into the repetition rather than be propelled through it.
Treating it as ambient background music. The Sanskrit is the point. Even if you don't read a word of it, the vocal is the center of the music, not decoration.
Expecting high-energy, call-and-response ecstasy. If you want big drums and a charismatic leader whipping up a crowd, this will feel understated. That's intentional.
Assuming "fusion" means diluted. He openly acknowledges the jazz, R&B and rock in his sound, and he takes the mantras seriously. His practice sits within the Sivananda Yoga tradition, which he studied before completing teacher training at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat in the Bahamas in 2006. The blend comes from a musician with real training on both sides.
Looking for a guru. He positions himself as a guide and companion, not an enlightened master.
His recent titles (Healing, Hope, Compassion, Letting Go, Forgiveness) point to the moments when this music tends to matter most: grief, burnout, transitions, and stretches when you need steadiness more than stimulation. It also suits people who already practice yoga or meditation and want music that supports stillness rather than interrupting it. He has also addressed public pain directly. His 2022 single Mariupol responded to the war in Ukraine.
Day 1: Play Bhagavan start to finish, in the evening, with no other task. Notice which track you want to repeat.
Day 2: Replay that track in the morning for ten minutes. Try singing along under your breath.
Day 3: Listen to Healing and Hope back to back. Notice how much shorter and more focused they are.
Day 4: Take one of his Insight Timer yoga classes. Pay attention to his pacing and how he holds silence.
Day 5: Play Bhakti Groove Machine while walking or doing chores. This is the most rhythmic stop on the list.
Day 6: Hear Cape Town to Kolkata and read the title as a biography: a Toronto-raised drummer, born in Cape Town, who found his way to the temple.
Day 7: Finish with Quiet Expanse, lights low, in one sitting. Compare it with where you started on Day 1.
If it clicks, his website, gelcer.com, lists retreat and tour information. He leads annual retreats at Sivananda Bahamas and Kripalu.