"Um, dois; um dois tres," and the 10-man band starts.

"Eu pensei em mim

"Eu pensei em ti

"Eu chorei por nos" ... "I thought about me. I thought about you. I cried for us."

The tidy space smells of fresh wood paneling, and the only backdrop for the saxophonist is a white board scribbled with music notes. But to someone listening with eyes closed, this could be a nightclub from the era when the bossa nova _ also known as Brazilian jazz _ was in its heyday.

This might even be 1964, which is when Antonio Adolfo, the teacher at this startup Brazilian music school in Hollywood, first learned to play. He's now _ 61? Yes, 61, his wife confirms. At the end of his work day, Adolfo slumps in his chair, looking worn as he says that this place is like a child who needs a lot of attention from its parents.

Adolfo has three music schools in his native Rio de Janeiro. There, he says, he has 1,500 students, including the grandson of Tom Jobim, who wrote the music for "The Girl from Ipanema." In the year since he opened shop in this space wedged next to the railroad tracks, he has drawn about 50 students.

The school is fledgling _ "We're experimenting" _ but Adolfo says he's hopeful about the Brazilian music scene's future in South Florida.

"I hope it explodes, in a good way," he says.

An explosion reminiscent of the "Girl from Ipanema" days has yet to occur, but just as Brazil is quietly stepping onto the world stage in business and politics, its musical offerings are cropping up around South Florida. Venues range from the corner platform at the Miami Brazilian bar Boteco to Gusman Center, where samba singer Maria Rita performed on Aug. 8.

Boteco, already a staple for live music, celebrated its first anniversary at the end of July. Gene de Souza, who hosts WDNA-FM's "Cafe Brazil," South Florida's only FM Brazilian music show, plans to travel to his homeland to scout talent to promote in the United States.

"They see 'Hey, Miami is an important market,'" Souza says of the agency that invited him back. "If people want to see great Brazilian music (in South Florida), there are opportunities _ and they're growing."

The pace of concerts featuring Brazilian headliners has picked up in the past few years, says Souza, who invites performers through the Rhythm Foundation. Gilberto Gil, the Brazilian minister of culture who has performed Tropicalia music since the 1960s, took the stage at the Fillmore on July 5. Samba star Mart'nalia performed July 26 at Fort Lauderdale's Culture Room, where Chico Cesar, who plays forro _ folkloric music from the northeast of Brazil _ appeared Sept. 5.

There was no big name booked at Boteco on a recent Monday night, and at a quarter to 9 the scene there mimics that of any corner bar. The bartender isn't busy, and the few scattered diners chat easily at their tables.

But 10 minutes later, the tables have been scooted to one side, and more than 30 pairs of feet shuffle across the concrete floor for the weekly samba lesson. It's a big turnout. Ludmilla Fleury, 29, who teaches the weekly class with Allan Maquieira, 44, says they usually get 15 to 20 people.

Couples, children and scattered regulars in gym clothes crowd the floor. Some, like Fleury, wear samba-standard high heels; others dance in flip-flops.

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"Step, step, slide," Fleury, a personal trainer by day, instructs from the platform.

"With samba," she says, "you got to ..." and waves her arms to each side. The students look a bit like a jumbled military unit walking in place.

Tow-headed Johnathan Konig, 2, taps his feet as he watches the class with his sister Rochelle, 5, and their grandmother. His mom is Colombian, and his dad is from Curacao.

"They love to see them dance," Victor Konig says of his kids.

"The foreigner has much more curiosity," says Fleury, who moved to South Florida 13 years ago from the Brazilian state of Goias. "We almost don't have Brazilians in the class."

Roy Rindom, 47, came to Boteco's live samba on a Saturday in August, hearing Brazilian music and trying the three-count dance for the first time.

"I'm very Brazilian," Rindom, who lives in Hollywood, jokes when asked where he is from.

"No, now he is Brazilian!" says Bettina Bruno, 38, of Davie. The Sao Paolo native was one of several female friends who had invited Rindom to Boteco.

Rindom was born and raised in Miami, and his grandfather owned a food market here on 79th Street _ long before Boteco set up shop. But now: "The samba!" he says. "I didn't fall!"

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The corner bar just east of Biscayne Boulevard is the creation of Italian-born Angelo Angiollieri and a business partner. Angiollieri, 34, lived in Australia, Venezuela and Brazil and discovered a special affinity for what he calls ...