Stefan Berg revives the wordless graphic novel in his portrait of the 'first man of jazz'. Very little is known of Buddy Bolden. His music was never recorded and there is only one existing photograph, yet he is considered to be the first bandleader to play the improvised music that has since become known as jazz.

Stefan Berg is a painter and printmaker who was born in Toronto in 1985. He finished his final year at the Ontario College of Art and Design in 2008, winning the Eric Freefield Award, and since then has lectured at the college on occasion. In 2009 he founded the Lower Dawes Studio in Toronto. Stefan currently works with intaglio and relief printmaking mediums. He has been featured in the Toronto Star and in Canadian small press publications `Cut And Print` and `Block Cutters Social Klub`, published by the Free North Press. The Free North Press also published Stefan's first independent book, After a While, a selection of block work from 2002 to 2006.

The recipient of multiple scholarships for excellence in painting, photography and printmaking, including a post graduate entry scholarship, Stefan's intent is to uphold the traditional methods of printmaking as a contemporary artist.

Stefan Berg's profile page

• Short-listed, ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year

'Art books published by The Porcupine's Quill never disappoint. Let That Bad Air Out: Buddy Bolden's Last Parade is another glowing example of the superb quality of the releases from this marvellous small-town Ontario press.

'In a series of brilliantly rendered linocut relief prints, Berg tells the story of Buddy Bolden, a New Orleans jazz musician living from 1877 to 1931. Each crisp image masterfully succeeds in evoking a feeling of the fluidity of the music, the boisterousness of the community, and the darkness of the events surrounding the musician's demise. An introduction by Donald M. Marquis, author of In Search of Buddy Bolden: First Man of Jazz, and an afterword by renowned artist, George A. Walker, round out this collection.

'Fans of the graphic novel genre and enthusiasts of linocut relief printmaking will surely be pleased with Let That Bad Air Out: Buddy Bolden's Last Parade. Highly recommended.'

minibookexpo.com

'Berg has done a dandy job of recreating the whole march, from its gleaming beginning to the cornet player's falling collapse into the dark hole of madness. The powerful final image is of a cornet, the mouthpiece no longer in place. ... For all the book's dark content, a smart refreshing breeze wafts from its pages, the result of a lovely combo of artistic and bookmaking craft. Well done.'

Toronto Star