This post contains 3 videos meant to be absorbed together, and in sequence. If you start at the top and finish at the bottom you will be investing ~18 minutes of your life (save the embedded links for after). While you can skip ahead, it will be cooler if you follow my instructions.

#1 – Steve Reich, hailed by the Village VOICE as “America’s greatest living composer…” is a seminal composer from the minimalist era (Phillip Glass, John Adams, etc.), though I understand that is a label he is not fond of. Although long familiar with his name, I did not discover his music until a few years ago after stumbling upon the following clip, which captivated me and led me to buy his Music for 18 Musicians (which I adore). The music is hypnotic and seductive and allows the listener to decide how deeply (or not) they want to engage while listening. It is music that conjures all sorts of images that might go beautifully underneath it (not unlike the ones they demonstrate in the first video).

#2 – The next clip is more recent and features Reich rehearsing musicians playing ‘rock’ instruments but in the same vein as the orchestral music from clip #1.

#3 – Here is my favorite part: I love Pat Metheny’s music and I’m also fascinated by process and the means by which artists digest and define their influences. Pat Metheny has stated that Reich was an influence on him and the two even made an album together in ’88.  If you’ve done your homework and listened to the first two videos, then what follows in video #3 will be really fun to observe.

Can you hear the influence?