Thank you. In this case I was trying to be faithful to the song and using the original as a guide.
That's quite an achivement, this arrangement, and I think you should be proud.The stride/ragtime LH does capture some of the off-kilter "retro" (even for the time....although I was a young kid when the song was released and didn't remember it until now, if I ever heard it) flavor.Right up to the piano part on the original recording.I can't think of what you could do "better," really. You have the feel down just fine, and you get the bassline down just after the impressionistic sort of "intro" to the tune.And you return to the signature bassline...I guess I'd call that the "hook" of the tune.You exploit octaves in both hands to good effect, but I suppose if anything, since the vocal melody is rather plain, I'd maybe take advantage of octaves in the RH to try to forcefully build dynamics over the already prominent LH (which is not a criticism of your LH, just the nature of that kind of pattern on piano....the RH must struggle sometimes to be heard or to anticipate where the "bass" or accompaniment is going, as though the RH were horns or a piano struggling over a full orchestra).And, equally, although you do this, a little more playfulness in the LH. Yes, I know how the original recording is, but you can occasionally vary the pattern by throwing in a firm octave in LH and then resume the pattern.So, no, there's not much to add, other than it's a good introduction or re-introduction to a tune, and you play it convincingly. If anything, more improvisatory elements will probably come to you if you keep playing the tune.I like it, and I thank you for the contribution!EDIT, on review, I've stricken the parts of my response which I don't think apply after listening to your arrangement and the original side-by-side.I can't think of a single thing I'd change or do differently than you (other than just choices about how to articulate the introductory 'noises' and so forth, minor things that are just up to choice): you managed to incorporate just about everything from the original tune into a succinct, idiomatic statement, in real time. It must have been a bit like being a "one-man-band" type thing trying to decide how to play it (you know, those people who have a cymbal attached to a knee, and a melodica or harmonica, an open-tuned guitar, and so forth, while walking around for entertainment).So, my original thought must stand: that's an extraordinary accomplishment, and you should be proud.And the original is an odd, kind of hyped-up feel to the rhythm: it wouldn't really be the same tune without that aggressive, on top of the beat feeling. Knee-jerk reaction for me is that I like to play that stuff a bit behind (but still keeping the tempo), but hearing the original, you get that exactly right.