Physically, JS Bach was in Germany thruout his life.  His musical imagination ranged more widely, with trips to England and France and (especially) Italy.  Later musicians’ imaginations took him to many more places.  Brazil.  Russia.  New Orleans.

New Orleans?  Yes!

Pianists Eyran Katsenelenbogen and Tal Zilber took Bach (and some other saints of music) to New Orleans.  They later played souvenirs of that visit for an audience in China.  Bach goes marching in about 12 minutes into the 14 minute YouTube video; the whole thing deserves to heard and heard again.

The image below is a screenshot (with a link to the video) that is better than what I got with the YouTube embed code.  U can click on the image to follow the link and then click on “SHOW MORE” (just before the YouTube comments section) for easy access to each variation on the great song that is like an anthem for New Orleans.

Happy Birthday, Johann Sebastian!  Hope U enjoyed the jambalaya.

Acknowledgement: I appreciate being pointed to the video from a post on the WQXR Blog by James Bennett, II.