THE BIG BEAT: FATS DOMINO AND THE BIRTH OF ROCK 'n' ROLL

Fats Domino, along with Elvis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis, was one of the creators of the Rock 'N' Roll revolution; he sold over 60 million records and only Elvis had more chart hits in the Rock 'N' Roll era. His debut hit "The Fat Man" sold a million copies in 1949 and is often cited as one of the first records to present the Rock 'N' roll style. The song is among the newest additions to the Grammy Hall of Fame and cited this month for its historical significance by the Recording Academy.

THE BIG BEAT tells Fats' extraordinary story as he rises from a poor childhood in New Orleans' 9th Ward and his journey to become one of the inventors of a revolutionary genre and one of the most popular musical artists on the planet. Generous amounts of electrifying vintage performance of Fats' and his band is interspersed with interview with such fellow architects of Rock 'n' Roll as producer/songwriter/bandleader Dave Bartholomew (who co-wrote and produced most of Fat's hits), studio owner, engineer and producer Cosimo Matassa (who was involved in creating seminal Rock 'N' Roll recordings by Fats, Little Richard, Ray Charles, Lloyd Price and many others) and saxophonist Herb Hardesty, a mainstay of both Fats' and Dave Bartholomew's bands and recordings. The film brilliantly captures the rich cultural milieu of New Orleans, demonstrating how it was as much the birthplace of Rock 'N' Roll as the birthplace of jazz. THE BIG BEAT is a landmark of American cultural and musical history which presents a rare opportunity to experience the magnificent artistry of Fats Domino.