Jazz singer Christine Tobin explores the extensive anti-Jazz campaigns of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s that accompanied the post-independence nation building project. Christine Tobin discovers the fears of female sexuality, race and outsiders that ultimately led RTÉ to ban jazz in 1943. 90 years on from the founding of the Irish Free State, this documentary holds a mirror up to the fears of an unstable, newly independent state and its attempt to determine morality and a sense of Irishness. Broadcast on Friday 7th December, 90 years on from the first day of the Irish Free State, this programme reflects on the legacy of the Irish State and Church’s attempts to control music while questioning our contemporary attitudes towards music and morality.

A Smooth Operations Production made with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland's Sound and Vision Broadcasting Funding Scheme

Presented by Christine Tobin
Produced by Ruth Fitzsimons
with Production Coordinator, Eoin O Kelly
and Series Producer, Olga Buckley