Agree with you completely. He was also grabbing from Paris fashion with respect to the imported "cakewalk"- so there were serious echoes in his music of ragtime from that point on. (I wonder if he heard Tom Wiggins at any point too) And of course he wrote for saxophone (French invention, but later jazz instrument). If the author was looking for influences only in classical music, I can see how he seemed to come out of nowhere, but he incorporates a lot of French song tradition too. Where does Scriabin sit in here- I forgot. There is Debussy-Scriabin shared aroma, if you know what I mean. It's interesting to think about this. I always think about who he influenced, especially Django, but also Stravinsky. It's interesting to think about who he was digging. I'm glad to be reminded of his violin and cello sonatas today. I'm off to put them on. Thanks for posting.