ABSTRACT
“Under US Influence” examines the first Radiotelevisão Portuguesa (RTP) television jazz series to use international content, which came from the United States Information Agency (USIA)-produced Jazz USA. The chapter investigates the role of assistant music producer Manuel Jorge Veloso. As presenter and producer, his programmes used footage from the Newport Jazz Festival which was distributed by the US Embassy in Lisbon. Exclusive interview material from Raul Calado reveals how, by the late 1950s, USIA agents were already establishing connections within Lisbon’s jazz scene. Although jazz programming in Portugal was still scarce and intermittent during this phase, the production process was engaging with both the national and international jazz scenes as well as transatlantic television production.
