George Gershwin grew up on the records his family played at home and the Tin Pan Alley songs he plugged as a teenage pianist, and spent his short career blurring the line between Broadway pop and the concert hall. Rhapsody in Blue fused jazz syncopation and blue notes with symphonic ambition in a way American composers hadn't dared try, making him the reference point for songwriters who wanted sophistication without losing a hook. He died at 38, having already rewritten what an American popular song could sound like.

the sound in question

1924

Rhapsody in BlueGeorge Gershwin