Jazz lover Moira Stuart explores the lives and music of some of the most influential women of jazz. Along with some great music, this four-part series will also focus on how some of Moira's favourite female jazz vocalists used their fame and notoriety to push social and musical boundaries, and to fight injustice and prejudice.

We join Moira on her further discovery of these inspiring women, talking to the people who knew them. There are archive interviews and performances, as well as some of Moira's personal memories added to the mix. The series also features contributions from biographers and artists who have themselves been inspired by these "strong and sassy" women.

Lena Horne, Anita O'Day, Adelaide Hall, Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae. All fascinating women, for whom jazz was a way of life, and who made their mark on society. In programme one, Moira is joined by writer and historian Stephen Bourne to discuss the life and career of Lena Horne, a singer and actress whose left-leaning political views and involvement in the Civil Rights movement led to her being blacklisted in Hollywood.

Having met and corresponded with Lena, Stephen gives us an insight into our first inspiring woman of jazz. We hear archive interviews from Lena, and her daughter Gail Lumet Buckley, as well as great recordings like Stormy Weather. Show less