A groundbreaking artist, she began singing jazz when the genre was still a new phenomenon in the USSR.

[4] In the late 1950s, she worked in the orchestras of Oleg Lundstrem, Konstantin Orbelyan, Yuri Saulsky.

At the onset of her music career, Chokheli's mother was concerned for her safety, even fearing an arrest, because jazz was perceived to be the cultural influence of the United States, seen by the Soviet authorities as the enemy of the USSR.

[5] Chokheli recounted with pride how the contemporaneous Voice Of America reports took note of her performances, commenting that she sang jazz with a Georgian flair.

[6] Since 1961, Chokheli held solo concerts and performed with Eddie Rosner.