When Chris Thile hosted his public radio show Live From Here from its new home, The Town Hall in New York City, last weekend, he paid tribute to a composer and label mate with his own history in the famed theater. Steve Reich, who premiered his seminal work Music for 18 Musicians at The Town Hall in April 1976, celebrates his eighty-third birthday this Thursday, and the show marked the occasion in its Musicians Birthdays segment. Live From Here musical director Mike Elizondo and drummer Eric Doob performed Reich’s classic 1972 piece Clapping Music. You can watch that performance below.

“As influential a composer as our country has ever produced,” Thile says of Reich when wishing him a happy birthday on the show. “Thank you for everything you continue to do, Steve. You are an inspiration to all of us.”

Chris Thile performs a solo show at Ohio University's Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium in Athens tomorrow and brings Live From Here to the free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park this coming weekend. Rachael & Vilray will join that show back at The Town Hall on October 26.

Steve Reich's latest Nonesuch album, Pulse/Quartet, was released last year and includes the world-premiere recordings of Pulse, performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble, and Quartet, played by the Colin Currie Group. To pick up a copy, head to your local music store, iTunes, Amazon, or the Nonesuch Store, where CD and vinyl orders include a download of the complete album at checkout. You can also listen to the album on Spotify and Apple Music.