In 1928, the young composer George Gershwin was already a sensation - his earlier Blue Rhapsody had become the calling card of American music. Gershwin achieved what seemed impossible for other composers of his generation - an organic fusion of African-American and Western European musical traditions. Once, on a visit to Paris, the cosmopolitan Gershwin asked Maurice Ravel, the French Impressionist classic, to teach him the secrets of composition. But when he heard Gershwin's music, Ravel replied: "Why be a second-rate Ravel when you can be a first-rate Gershwin?" The composers continued their friendship in the years that followed. Gershwin even invited Ravel to visit the United States. It is believed that this friendship inspired the composer to write his symphonic poem "An American in Paris."