Mike Gebhart shares his story as a jazz drummer who moved to New York City for its music scene. On set with his cat, Clara, Mike gives us a taste of improvisation on drums, laughs about how he bought his own drum set as a kid when his parents were out shopping, and much more.

Mike genuinely loves music. From the way he immerses himself in drumming, to the way his eyes sparkle when mentioning cherished albums, or the Village Vanguard (legendary venue for jazz music), even the way he handles a treasured photograph of jazz masters (unexpectedly mauled by his cat Clara during our interview, see 5:26 in the video) it’s easy to see that for Mike, playing music is not a choice, it’s a part of life.

As a jazz lover, I met Mike at a jazz show where he played as part of a jazz quartet at the Daily Press, a local coffee shop in Brooklyn. What I didn’t know at the time, was the variety of drums that he can play. At his beach house / drum studio, Mike performed a number of improvisational solos on different instruments: the drum set, the conga drums, and the cajón, each with a distinct style.

Drums are considered the rhythm instruments, and in my mind, to play solo drums and capture an audience’s attention without a range of melodic notes must be challenging. Not wanting to lead his answer in any specific direction, I asked an intentionally vague question: “what do you think about when you play solo?”

His response perfectly answered my curiosity. Demonstrating on the conga, he says he thinks about note patterns that interest him, and making tone changes in the way the hand makes contact with the conga to produce a variety of notes.

We must have spent close to three hours at his studio, but I hardly felt the passage of time. Clara, the adorable cat that lives with Mike, switches from tip-toeing around his drum set, listening intently to his drumming, and getting overly excited over Mike’s treasured photo (watch the video and you’ll see!) or playing with one of our videographer’s colorful socks. “She’s the number one fan [of Mike’s music],” says Mike about Clara.

Clara clearly has excellent taste in music.