Tony Allen and Hayseed Dixie To Headline Ealing Summer Festivals 2018

London, 23rd January 2018: The first headliners for the Ealing Summer Festival series have today been announced, with former Fela Kuti drummer and Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen headlining Ealing Jazz Festival and AC/DC inspired rockgrass band Hayseed Dixie topping the bill for the series’ Blues Festival.An impeccably deft percussionist with a transfixing mastery of rhythm and beat, Tony Allen was one of the defining figures in the internationally renowned Afrobeat movement, establishing himself on the global stage with Fela Kuti and Africa 70. Since then Allen has had a prolific career working with some of the greatest musicians of our time such as Red Hot Chilli Pepper’s Flea, Charlotte Gainsborough, and Damon Albarn, as well as influencing the likes of Brian Eno and Talking Heads. Hot on the heels of his 2017 critically acclaimed Jazz LP, The Source, Allen will undoubtedly deliver a set to remember.Hayseed Dixie will be bringing their eclectic brand of blues, country, and rock to the Blues Festival. No stranger to experimentation and originality, the group have recorded albums in Norwegian, covered AC/DC to critical acclaim and feature the fastest banjo player in the world.With an impressive catalogue of 15 albums, their latest ‘Free Your Mind…And Your Grass Will Follow’ was released last year, Hayseed Dixie have toured the European and US festival scene prodigiously and promise to deliver a raucous show.Ealing Jazz Festival and Ealing Blues Festival are two of 2018’s Ealing Summer Festivals, a series of eight separate events produced by the Event Umbrella on behalf of Ealing Council taking place throughout the summer months. Set in some of Ealing’s most beautiful parks, the festivals bring people together in a collective appreciation of exceptional local and international talent across a range of artistic disciplines.Councillor Bassam Mahfouz, Ealing Council’s cabinet member for transport, environment and leisure said: “We look forward to welcoming these world-class acts to the borough for the first of the 2018 Ealing Summer Festivals. This is just the first of a number of summer events for residents to look forward to, with a packed schedule of laughs, music, carnival festivities and culinary delights to look forward to.“Enticing events will be taking place across Ealing’s enviable green spaces which will once again provide the perfect backdrop for a top-class line up of musicians, comedians and artists, to draw in the crowds.”Tickets for the festivals will go on sale in March 2018.