Philip Watson: How I created my biography of jazz great Bill Frisell

The Cork-based author recalls interviews with the likes of Paul Simon and Martin Hayes - as well as Frisell himself - in the book's seven-year gestation. He'll also discuss the process at Cork World Book Festival 

Bill Frisell. Picture: Carole D'Inverno

During the research for my biography of the American guitarist Bill Frisell I put in a request for an interview with Paul Simon, who was coming to Dublin to play a concert. Frisell and Simon had a loose connection – the guitarist had guested on a track on the legendary singer-songwriter’s 2006 album Surprise, and I had heard Simon was a great admirer of Frisell’s work.

The Sony Music press officer in Dublin told me, however, that there was absolutely no way Paul Simon was going to talk to me: he didn’t have an album to promote; the absolute worst time to approach him was during a long and arduous global arena tour; and in all the previous times he had been in the country, Simon had never, ever granted an interview via his record company in Ireland.