Thank you for buying this record. What follows is its documentation: the pressing identified, the matrix / runout transcribed by hand from the dead wax, and the condition as assessed before it was listed. It is yours to keep with the record.

— Paul, Vinyl Curator

Miles Davis Quintet / Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers / Barney Wilen Quintet

Jazz Sur L'Écran (Ascenseur Pour L'Échafaud / Des Femmes Disparaissent / Un Témoin Dans La Ville)

c. 1959-1963 · Fontana 680.242 ML · Mono · Canada (licensed Fontana pressing, distributed by London Records of Canada) · LP · 33 1/3 RPM

Miles Davis Quintet / Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers / Barney Wilen Quintet - Jazz Sur L'Écran (Ascenseur Pour L'Échafaud / Des Femmes Disparaissent / Un Témoin Dans La Ville): Front Cover

Pressing details

Label	Fontana
Catalogue number	680.242 ML
Year	c. 1959-1963
Mono / Stereo	Mono
Country	Canada (licensed Fontana pressing, distributed by London Records of Canada)
Format	LP
Speed	33 1/3 RPM
Genre	Jazz - Hard Bop / Soundtrack
Producer	N.E.F. (Ascenseur Pour L'Échafaud); Marcel Romano (Des Femmes Disparaissent, Un Témoin Dans La Ville)
Composer	Miles Davis (Ascenseur Pour L'Échafaud); Art Blakey (Des Femmes Disparaissent); Barney Wilen (Un Témoin Dans La Ville)
Musicians	Miles Davis (trumpet), Barney Wilen (tenor sax), René Urtreger (piano), Pierre Michelot (bass), Kenny Clarke (drums) - Ascenseur Pour L'Échafaud; Art Blakey (drums), Benny Golson (tenor sax), Lee Morgan (trumpet), Bobby Timmons (piano), Jymie Merritt (bass) - Des Femmes Disparaissent; Barney Wilen (soprano/tenor sax), Kenny Dorham (trumpet), Duke Jordan (piano), Paul Rovère (bass), Kenny Clarke (drums) - Un Témoin Dans La Ville

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  FON AA 680242 1L 380
Side B:  FON AA 680242 2L 380

Condition

Cover: EX+
Vinyl: NM

Variant chronology

1959-60 - French Fontana original pressing, 680.242 ML, flat/standard French label
c. 1960-63 - Canadian Fontana licensed pressing, deep groove, 'MADE IN CANADA' rim text, matrix AA 680.242 1L/2L, distributed by London Records of Canada  <- this copy
1988 - Fontana France complete-recordings reissue

This Pressing

Canadian pressing (Fontana 680.242 ML, mono, deep groove) - a licensed North American manufacture of the French compilation, not the original French first pressing.

The Album

Louis Malle's 1958 film noir Ascenseur Pour L'Échafaud became a landmark of jazz-and-cinema collaboration when Miles Davis, in Paris in December 1957, improvised the score overnight with a pickup quintet of Barney Wilen, René Urtreger, Pierre Michelot and Kenny Clarke, reacting spontaneously to the film's projected rushes without written charts. The spare, modal result is widely regarded as the first great jazz film score and a key stepping stone toward the modal explorations Davis pursued the following year on Kind of Blue. This compilation pairs that soundtrack with two related French scores: Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers' music for Édouard Molinaro's Des Femmes Disparaissent (1958), featuring the classic Golson-Morgan-Timmons-Merritt lineup, and Barney Wilen's score for Molinaro's Un Témoin Dans La Ville, played by a quintet with Kenny Dorham and Duke Jordan. Together the sessions capture a vivid transatlantic moment when touring American beboppers collided with the French Nouvelle Vague, producing mood-driven, largely improvised jazz that shaped the sound of European crime cinema. The Davis score has been repeatedly cited by critics as a model of economical, atmospheric jazz composition, remaining one of his most celebrated non-album works and reinforcing his stature as a restless innovator outside his regular Columbia output. Blakey's contribution is a lesser-known but well-regarded entry in the Jazz Messengers discography, capturing the group just before Wayne Shorter's arrival reshaped the band.

Tracklist

Side 1

1. Générique - 2:45
2. L'Assassinat De Carala - 2:10
3. Sur L'Autoroute - 2:15
4. Julien Dans L'Ascenseur - 2:07
5. Florence Sur Les Champs-Élysées - 2:50
6. Dîner Au Motel - 3:58
7. Évasion De Julien - 2:00
8. Visite Du Vigile - 2:06
9. Au Bar Du Petit Bac - 2:50
10. Chez Le Photographe Du Motel - 3:50

Side 2

1. Blues Pour Vava (A. Blakey) - 3:28
2. La Divorcée De Léo Fall (Arr. A. Blakey - B. Golson) - 2:09
3. Blues Pour Marcel (A. Blakey) - 4:17
4. Sur L'Antenne - 0:40
5. Blues De L'Attente - 4:11
6. Poursuite Et Métro - 2:08
7. Mélodie Pour Les Radio-Taxis - 3:47
8. La Vie N'est Qu'Une Lutte - 3:10

The Label

The label is the blue-and-silver Fontana 'lyre/bag' logo design, with 'MADE IN CANADA' printed directly beneath the spindle hole and deep-groove rings on both sides; the matrix is stamped AA 680.242 1L/2L, a numbering convention distinct from the French plant's. Fontana's original French pressing used the identical catalog number and label art but was manufactured in France; this Canadian rim text and deep groove mark a licensed North American manufacture, distributed by London Records of Canada Ltd. as stated on the back cover, and place it after the original French release rather than as a first-run copy. The deep-groove construction and label typography are consistent with early-to-mid 1960s London/Fontana Canada jazz product, before Canadian Fontana labels moved to flat-edge design later in the decade.

Fidelity

Mono mastering sourced from the same Fontana metalwork used for the French release; the Canadian pressing plant (likely Compo Company or a London Records of Canada facility) generally produced clean but not audiophile-grade jazz pressings of this era. Sonically the mono cut favors the raw, atmospheric immediacy of the Ascenseur Pour L'Échafaud sessions, with reasonable warmth for a period European jazz soundtrack pressing. In the fidelity hierarchy, the French Fontana original and the 1988 Fontana France complete-recordings reissue are generally considered sonically superior and more complete, while later CD and Music On Vinyl 180g reissues offer modern but less vintage-authentic sound; this Canadian pressing occupies a mid-tier position, valued more for scarcity and era-authenticity than outright audiophile sonics.

Notes

This is the Fontana 680.242 ML mono LP manufactured and distributed in Canada (London Records of Canada per back-cover text), not the original French pressing sharing the same catalog number. Deep-groove rings on both label sides and the 'MADE IN CANADA' rim text are the decisive evidence for Canadian origin, with matrix stamps AA 680.242 1L/2L carrying a Canadian pressing suffix distinct from French plant codes. As a secondary regional pressing of a French compilation, it sits below the scarcer French original in the collector hierarchy but is itself a hard-to-find item given limited Canadian jazz LP distribution of the era.

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