One WSU jazz instructor may not be where he is today if it weren’t for an accident he suffered as a teenager.

After playing piano for 10 years, WSU jazz piano and jazz history instructor Brian Ward broke his wrist rollerblading at the age of 15. It was then he began to focus on the genre that would eventually lead to him to taking part in a Grammy award-winning album.

“I didn’t know what jazz was,” Ward said, “but I gravitated towards it because you could play it by ear.”

Students, staff and community members will get a chance to see Ward perform in a solo jazz piano concert he’s named “A Night of Ballad and Blues,” at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Kimbrough Hall.

The first half of the performance will feature Ward covering songs by Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton, and Fats Waller. The second half of the show will be original works by Ward himself.

“It’s very odd to do a solo jazz performance,” Ward said.

But he added he’s looking forward to challenging himself and still plans to incorporate jazz’s trademark spontaneity and improvisation.

“I’ll be feeling the vibe from the audience,” Ward said. “Trying to get the inspiration from them.”

Ward has played with a number of popular artists in the past including Curtis Salgado, Steve Miller and Regina Carter, but this will be his first solo performance on campus.

Prior to his job as an instructor at WSU, Ward taught and played jazz in Portland, Oregon. It was there that he met with the upcoming star Esperanza Spalding, who later contacted him to compose the Grammy award winning song “City of Roses” for her album “Radio Music Society” in 2012.

“A lot of people think jazz is inaccessible,” he said, but he’s hoping his performance may open up some concert goers to the genre.

“Hopefully people dig it,” he said.

Ward’s performance is just one of many in the WSU School of Music’s Faculty Artist Series that will be going on throughout the year.

“This is a great opportunity for students to listen to a great performance for free,” said Sandra Albers, performing arts facilities coordinator.

All proceeds will go toward the school of music scholarship.

“The faculty wanted to raise scholarship money for our students,” Albers said.

Tickets are free to all WSU students with ID, and the cost for general admission is $10, while for non-WSU students, and those ages 60 and older admission is $5.

Reporting by Dustin Vandehoef