Back in the early 1980's, my mother's friend, Skip, gave me his 1941 Martin mandolin, which also happened to be given to him. He was not a mandolin player, but knew that I was interested in the instrument. I, too, was not much of a mandolin player, though I did have a general understanding. When he gave me the old, well-aren’t-you-going-to-play-me-something? look, I didn't want to disappoint. After all, I was just given a vintage instrument! So I made up something on the spot. I actually surprised myself, as it sounded somewhat traditionally Celtic. What I played for him is the melody you hear at the beginning of the piece -- including the intentional missing beat. “Wow, that's beautiful,” Skip said. “What is that?” “Oh something I’ve been working on,” I fibbed. At least it got me off the hook for the moment! For 25 years, I repeatedly tried adding to that short melody, but always without success. Then I met world-class Celtic violinist, Jessica Willis. Sitting in my dad’s backyard one day, I said to her, “Jessica, you’re a Celtic musician; what can you do with this?” I played it for her. Within mere minutes, she came up with the “B” part. A few months later, just one day before we were scheduled to record it, we agreed that it needed a “C” part, which Jessica also wrote. Some of her siblings -- The Willis Clan -- recorded their parts, and the rest is history. Because of Jessica’s amazing contributions, which eventually completed the piece, my wife, Debbie, could not think of a better title than “Jig for Jessica.” We hope you enjoy!