ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book looks at twenty years (1954–1974) that encompassed the development of both television and jazz in one of the last European colonial states. Starting in September 1954, when the feasibility study began for the proposed public television service, and ending in April 1974, when a military coup overthrew the regime, this book locates jazz production within an important cultural milieu during a period of profound change. It explores how Portuguese TV jazz programmes constituted a space for the representation of the world. The book looks closely at the early history of jazz in Portugal and its presence in other media: press, cinema and radio. It analyses Radiotelevisao Portuguesa (RTP’s) experimental period and the launch of its regular broadcasting, in which music played a major role as part of daily television programming.
