Richard Boukas is an educator, composer, and guitarist who teaches at the New School for Performing Arts in New York City. Among other things, he is known for his dedication to Brazilian music, new and old. One of his recent recordings, Diálogos Duo, finds him in the company of clarinetist Louis Arques. Together they explore music from several generations of Brazilian composers. Here, they dedicate to the memory of composer Ernesto Nazareth (1863-1934) a performance of his “Solisticio de Verao.” Nazareth was noted for the Chopin influence in his work. You may be able to detect it here.
That is from one of two new Richard Boukas albums devoted to Brazilian music that, in some cases, anticipated the emergence much later of the samba variations that led to bossa nova. The second new Boukas album, by his Quarteto Moderno, is titled Live! Ao Vivo!