Choro is a type of Brazilian popular music similar in background to the celebrated Cubanson of Buena Vista Social Club fame. Choro started in Rio de Janeiro as a fusion ofAfrican-based rhythms and structures with European instruments and dance forms. Inthe 20th century, it came to represent social and racial diversity in Brazil and wasintegrated into mainstream film, radio, and recordings throughout Latin America andEurope. It formed a basis for Brazilian jazz and influenced the music of Heitor VillaLobos. Today choro is viewed as a type of popular folk/traditional music in its ownright. Its history parallels that of race, class, and nationality in Brazil over the last 100years.Tamara Elena Livingston-Isenhour is University Archivist for Kennesaw StateUniversity in Georgia.Thomas George Caracas Garcia is Assistant Professor of musicology/ethnomusicology and guitar/lute at the State University of West Georgia.