Rhapsody in Blue

They include Gershwin’s recording of “Rhapsody in Blue” and Al Jolson’s recording of “California Here I Come.”

“Bathtub Gin” was jaunty and playful, with McConnell threading a bit of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” into the song’s fabric; “Lonely Trip” was a lilting ballad with one of the evening’s few convincing vocal turns from Anastasio.

This concerto, completed in 1931, is something like a French sibling of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” which Ravel asked to hear the American composer play when he visited New York in 1928.

Sieroty was also a huge fan of art and jazz music, and blasted George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” in the days before he died, his niece said.

I’m not sure when I first listened to George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” which premiered 100 years ago this week, from start to finish.