Soothing to the soul: Guitarist Edgar Cruz delights Stillwater crowd

Aug. 3—Almost 200 people packed the Sheerar History Museum's auditorium for a concert by classical guitarist Edgar Cruz on July 21.

Everyone there sought a place to cool down and enjoy the sounds of a classical guitar — one of the richest in the world.

I slipped in near the back, having come in a bit late from the News Press office. I had seen the concert listing and decided to go.

After all, the memories of listening to my dad playing the classical guitar as I drifted off to sleep as a child came back to me. Our family traveled and performed music together, and anytime I hear classical guitar music, I'm drawn back to the comfort of nodding off to an exquisite, intricate piece.

The evening was part of the museum's 15th Annual Cool Classics concert series this summer — a lineup of musicians that included Tulsa-based harp and viola duo Duo Appassionata and on Aug. 11, Tango-inspired music by Jessica Borth and Elena Lyalina.

The name Edgar Cruz was slightly familiar to me — but for some reason, I couldn't quite place who he was. Apparently, he's played here seven times, and somehow I'd missed seeing him perform.

I grew up on a steady diet of Andres Segovia, the Spanish virtuoso classical guitarist; Christopher Parkening, one of America's top classical guitarists; and Chet Atkins, also known as "Mr. Guitar," who helped create the Nashville sound. My dad played pieces regularly from each of these artists and many others.

That evening, I learned that Cruz has played throughout America, Europe and South America. He's headlined at the Chet Atkins Guitar Festival every summer in Nashville since 1995.

Since the late 1970s, he's been known as an icon at major art and music festivals in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Gazette named him as Oklahoma's Top Performing Artist and Acoustic Guitarist for more than 10 years.

Cruz holds a bachelor's of music degree in guitar performance from Oklahoma City University, where he was the first classical guitar student. He was honored with a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2010 and was added to the Hispanic exhibit at The Oklahoma History Center.

Although I was just learning this about him, the songs he played were familiar.

"Toccata and Fugue in D minor" by Bach. "Canon in D" by Johann Pachelbel. "Bohemian Rhapsody" and the 1948 "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" by Stan Jones.

And then there were others — such as "Hotel California" by the 1970s rock band The Eagles, and "Malagueña," a song by Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona — songs not as familiar to me, but in whose strains I was swept away.

"I don't really do these concerts, which I love to do more than anything," Cruz told the crowd. "But I also do ... festivals, weddings, receptions, banquets, anniversaries, birthdays, divorces."

The audience laughed.

One place Cruz has played at regularly is retirement homes. Cruz said he had expected them to ask for songs from the 1930s and 1950s, but that wasn't the case.

"These people love it," Cruz said. "It's just a joy for everybody involved. They're asking for Led Zeppelin, AC/DC."

The classical guitar, when played correctly, is one of the hardest stringed instruments to play, my dad always said, and I believe him. Although I mostly play acoustic guitar now, I had tried my hand at playing classical guitar. My dad gave me some pointers and even let me use his coveted Ramirez guitar to practice.

"Most people don't understand instrumental music ... unless it's done extremely well," Cruz told the crowd.

Cruz grew up playing with his father Manuel, a mariachi musician, and his brother, Mark. He played the bass guitar for the group and said he wasn't a huge fan of that genre, preferring instead to listen to rock and roll with his older siblings.

"Eventually, my dad bought me and my younger brother Mark guitars when I was about 12," Cruz told the News Press. "We didn't really take it seriously until I was about 14. That's when I picked it up and I haven't stopped since."

When Cruz first started learning the classical guitar, the instrument itself was not well-known around the state. There was no such thing as a guitar degree in Oklahoma until 1983. He saw the music take its time in capturing people's attention.

"Oklahoma has always been behind when it comes to culture," Cruz said. "I say that because ... back in the 70s, only a handful of us were ... really interested in it. ... It was just really not heard of ... unless it was just traditional classical guitar."

The night of the concert, Cruz readily admitted he is not the best "technical" player. But his ability to pull from other popular music is what makes him stand out among the classical guitarists in Oklahoma and elsewhere.

"I wanted to play popular music that everybody knew and liked," Cruz said. "Back then, when you call yourself a classical guitarist, you have this immediate assumption that you only play classical music, so that kind of hindered my career."

Cruz switched to calling himself a "finger style guitarist" and found that he was more appreciated.

What caught my attention wasn't the music (although it was thrilling) as much as the stage presence of Cruz, his interaction with the crowd and their response to him. He knew how to catch their attention, he cracked jokes and he included them in the program. They clapped, they cheered, they swayed.

One of my favorite moments from the evening was watching the crowd pick their favorite songs and then Cruz weaving them together to form a medley. He chose half a dozen songs from the crowd, seamlessly playing them as one.

When he was finished, he let us in on his secret. Usually, he picks the fastest song for the finale. Then he thinks about what key each song is played in, and decides in what order he will play them, adjusting for the modulations.

He also joked about how he visits the nail salon once a month to maintain his nails for playing. Without these regular visits, things go downhill quickly. Memories of my dad filing his nails came back to me.

"If I go too long, they start to chip off, and any plucking with a chip sounds horrible," Cruz said. "It slows me down, I can't play it correctly, the song isn't any good, the audience doesn't like it, I don't get paid, I can't pay my bills."

These days, Cruz plays around 300 gigs a year, mostly in the OKC metro area. He also teaches private music lessons. Interest in the classical guitar has grown exponentially, Cruz said.

"I see a huge growth, not only at the colleges, but at the high schools and even middle schools here in Oklahoma now," Cruz said. "None of that was available when I was around back then."

It's evident that Cruz's influence has reached this audience.

After a long, hot week, it felt wonderful to slip into a cool auditorium and let the soothing sounds of the classical guitar — happy and mournful all at once — both delight and excite me.

The music, and the musician, brought Stillwater together.

And for a while we forgot the heat outside.