Charles McPherson When Clint Eastwood was directing "Bird," a film biopic of the legendary jazz bebop savant Charlie Parker, it was necessary to hire a saxophonist to play some of the parts not on Bird's records. Eastwood hired Charles McPherson, 2004's San Diego Music Awards Lifetime Achievement recipient. McPherson has been called a devotee and a disciple of the late Parker, but his achievements have meant so much more than that to bebop fanatics and jazz lovers alike. Over the course of 35 years in the business, McPherson has evolved into a dependable, lyrically-toned and uniquely talented jazz linguist in his own right. Beginning in the 1950s Detroit scene, a young McPherson found another legendary figure to learn from in 1959, when he moved to New York and was quickly collaborating with Charles Mingus. McPherson, along with good friend Lonnie Hillyer, became a regular in his band during one of the iconic bassist-composer's most prolific, innovative periods. By the time McPherson became a full-time band leader of his own in 1972, he had toured and played with the cream of a popular figures during an artistic heyday--and eventual public twilight--for modern jazz. As styles and mainstream attention waned with the advent of rock and roll, McPherson has persevered, even thrived, both in critical circles--where his credentials would be more hindrance than help--and with the ever-hard-to-please modern jazz fan. Since adopting San Diego as his home in 1978, McPherson has continued to grace both the local music community and jazz as a form with his tireless devotion to authentic innovation, stylistic honesty and, sometimes using son Chuck on drums during hometown performances, a commitment to musical family values. -- Will K. Shilling

Chris Hillman and the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers Roughly 40 years after the "official" break up of their band, a group of legendary, some say infamous, bluegrass aficionados reformed last year at San Diego's 30th Annual Roots Festival. They were the namesake frontman and several original members, respectively, Chris Hillman and The Scottsville Squirrel Barkers, our co-Lifetime Achievement Award honorees for the 2004 San Diego Music Awards. While the group's umbrella title may seem obscure to most pop music fans, the origins of the band and its' lineup were always wrapped in enigmas of music industry-myth. In fact, one of the most visible - and legend-cementing - fans of the Squirrel Barkers, was country hippie-folk-rocker Gram Parsons (who would later form the Flying Burrito Brothers with Hillman). When Parsons praised an album recorded in 1963 he wasn't concerned with the time it took, but the timelessness of the artists and their intuitive, infectious playing. Often at break-neck speed, the pickin' and a'singin' of the band's pre-newgrass hoedowns was impressive and welcoming to even the most inexperienced music fans - and can serve today as precursor to another, more popular bluegrass act from San Diego, Nickel Creek. Over the years, the legend has quietly grown, as its members moved on to critical and popular acclaim in other, more high profile, acts; while the quality of that initial recording remains, and serves to honor a group with various lineups, all of which we've enlisted an original group member - Ed Douglas - to help sort out for us: "Scottsville Squirrel Barkers consisted of five members in the '60s: Gary Carr, Kenny Wertz, Larry Murray, Chris Hillman and Ed Douglas. The driving force of the SSB was Gary Carr & Kenny Wertz; Larry Murray sang harmony & fronted the band; Ed played the bass; and an 18 year old kid named Chris Hillman played the mandolin. All were talented and skilled." Douglas also updated us on the group's whereabouts: "Gary died in Oregon; Chris went on to become Chris Hillman; Larry went to L.A. and worked as a songwriter and TV comic writer; Kenny Wertz still plays bluegrass and has his own band locally, 117 West; Ed has always owned guitar shops and still does: The Double Eagle on Adams Avenue in Normal Heights." Much obliged, gentlemen. -- Will K. Shilling