It may look like a little island on the map but every region has its own music, it's incredibly rich. I'd love to go back there. Traveling is always a learning experience. There's also a feeling in New York that has to do with the way people talk. In general, in the States, musical rhythms have a relationship to the spoken language, the way people move, the countryside.
Jazz is very rich because it has rural roots but is interpreted in an urban environment.
It's definitely true that there's a mood in Debussy and Ravel that is difficult to grasp if you don't know Paris. Debussy was a big influence on Bix Beiderbecke, who was one of the first to come up with stacked ninths and diminished fifths in jazz. It's fascinating to that jazz has used all these influences to become a music that can be played by different people all over the world, and everyone brings a contribution. Django Reinhardt influenced people like B.B. King. Among the people I frequented, Martial Solal was an influence, important if not decisive.