MASHU was a

Canterbury scene The Canterbury scene (or Canterbury sound) was a musical scene centred on the town of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Associated with progressive rock, the term describes a loosely-defined, improvisational styl ...

improvisational supergroup that lasted from 1995 to 1998. The name is a reference to

Mashu Mashu, as described in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' of Mesopotamian mythology, is a great cedar mountain through which the hero-king Gilgamesh passes via a tunnel on his journey to Dilmun after leaving the Cedar Forest, a forest of ten thousand lea ...

(a mountain in the

Epic of Gilgamesh The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, and is regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature and the second oldest religious text, after the Pyramid Texts. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with ...

) and a combination of the first two letters of the band members' first names: MArk Hewins (guitar), SHyamal Maïtra (percussion), and HUgh Hopper (bass). Hopper and Hewins had already been collaborating as a duo when they were joined by Maïtra, formerly of

Gong A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...

. The band debuted in February 1995 at the Vortex Jazz Bar. A European tour followed in April 1995 from which is taken their only release, ''Elephants in Your Head?'' (1996). Saxophonist Frank van der Kooij guested on the first tour date, with saxophonists

Didier Malherbe Didier Malherbe (born January 22, 1943 in Paris), is a French jazz, rock and world music musician, known as a member of the bands Gong and Hadouk, as well as a poet. His first instrument was a saxophone, but he also plays flutes, alto clarin ...

and

Elton Dean Elton Dean (28 October 1945 – 8 February 2006) was an English jazz musician who performed on alto saxophone, saxello (a variant of the soprano saxophone) and occasionally keyboards. Part of the Canterbury scene, he featured in, among ot ...

guesting at a later show. The band played a handful of shows in 1996, 1997 and 1998. Since then, Hewins and Maïtra have continued to work together on other projects.

Discography

*''Elephants in Your Head?'' (1996)

References

Canterbury scene British progressive rock groups {{England-band-stub