Just Friends - Latin Jazz Style

I started to learn this song last week and was pleasantly surprised to see that Doug (Jazz2511) had posted a wonderful tutorial version on his channel. My version is an uptempo (200 BPM) Latin style to contrast with his medium tempo stride style.

Several things about this song standout to me. First is that the II-V (C-7 to F7) progression in bars 3 and 4 resolve to a G Major rather than the expected BbMaj7. This adds a wonderful melodic twist which is easily exploited during the improvisation. Speaking of the improvisation, I find that the rhythmicity of the lines is extremely important when playing in a Latin Jazz style. Also, notice on the A7#11 the use of the whole tone scale. I use many common motifs and techniques during the improvisation to try and connect my lines and make them coherent. As you might surmise, this is really a fun style for me.

Technical notes:
Roland FP-4 keyboard controlling Lounge Lizard Rhodes VSTi.
MIDIkeyz keyboard display from www.midikeyz.com
Screen capture with Camtasia.
Compsited in Adobe Premire Elements.
Final rendering in Serif Movie X Plus.

Dedicated to all my Youtube friends. ;-)

Thanks for listening.