Peter Van Gelder (born March 19, 1940) is a sitarist and musician who played saxophone and bass in The Great Society.[1]
Van Gelder moved to San Francisco after college and learned bass to play in The Great Society; he played saxophone on White Rabbit.[2] He became interested in Indian music after working at a San Francisco radio station and took a summer class at University of California Berkeley with Ali Akbar Khan where he learned to play sitar.[2] Deciding to continue his studies with Khan in Kolkata, he lived in India for three years and became a disciple of Ali Akbar Khan.[2][3] While in India, he met other musicians with whom he formed the band The Saddhu Brand when he returned to California.[4]
He is an instructor at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, California.[1][5][6]
Van Gelder grew up in a household where his parents listened to Western classical music.[2] He played clarinet and trumpet as a child.[2]