Choro is one of Brazil's best loved, most beautiful and enduring forms of music, a tradition born in Rio de Janeiro and other cities over a century ago and remaining a vibrant part of Brazilian musical life to this day. Choro originally grew out of musicians' spontaneous 'Brazilianising' of the polkas, tangos and waltzes of 19th century salon music, in many ways mirroring the evolution of ragtime and early jazz in North America. Along the way choro absorbed popular rhythms that it shares with samba and other styles, and the musicians - including immortal figures such as Chiquinha Gonzaga, Ernesto nazareth, Pixinguinha and Jacob do Bandloim - created a repertoire that has come to contain countless classics of Brazilian music. Like jazz and folk music, choro constantly renews itself through improvisation, and is played in informal 'sessions' as well as by established groups. Its influence runs through Brazilian music from the 1900s to the present day; taking in the classical music of the great Villa-Lobos, Carmen Miranda's hit 'Tico-tico', the work of great popular songwriters such as Chico Buarque, and modern choro groups both traditionalist and innovative.