While with The Hi-Lo's, Fischer arranged a record by trumpeter Donald Byrd, which, by virtue of Fischer's use of strings and harps, imbued well-known standards with an unaccustomed, melancholic quality. Although it would be twenty-five years before the album was finally released, "September Afternoon" paid immediate dividends when Byrd played a copy for Dizzy Gillespie. In turn, Gillespie hired Fischer to write arrangements for a small ensemble featuring brass and woodwinds for his own album, "A Portrait of Duke Ellington", which was well received. In 1960 albums for vibraphonist Cal Tjader and pianist George Shearing followed, as did an eight-year career of writing music for commercials, as well as the signing of Fischer's first record contract.