Guaraldi's first recorded debut as a group leader occurred in August 1955 during a live session held at the Blackhawk. Of the tracks recorded, two of them—"Ginza" and "Calling Dr. Funk" (the former recorded as part of the Ron Crotty Trio—were original compositions. The sessions were eventually released by Fantasy Records in March 1956 on "Modern Music from San Francisco". Fantasy was impressed enough with Guaraldi to offer him an exclusive contract in April 1956, yielding his debut album, "Vince Guaraldi Trio", which featured Duran and Reilly sans drummer. At the time, Guaraldi was subsequently appearing with Woody Herman's Third Herd, delivering energetic performances on a regular basis−a sharp contrast from the quiet recordings featured on his debut release.