FAVORED NATIONS Mike Keneally, formerly with Frank Zappa's band, has gone solo.

Zappa guitarist
and MM&W
serve up fusion jazz

As the late music iconoclast Frank Zappa once intoned onstage, "Jazz isn't dead -- it just smells funny."

Well, the same can be said for these two technically solid fusion jazz releases, one by a former guitar cohort of Zappa's late in his career and the other by a trio of New Yorkers who continue to solidify their reputation as jazz music's premier jam band.

Mike Keneally replaced Steve Vai as "stunt guitarist" for Zappa's final albums and tours in the late 1980s, as he's gone on in his own solo career as an extension of Zappa's exploration in melding virtuosic rock and classical-influenced genres.

Fans of Zappa's later knotty orchestral work will enjoy Keneally's project with the large Dutch ensemble, with arrangement help from Chris Opperman. Saying the pieces "are mostly about childhood and innocence," they're certainly filtered through a far-reaching command of music that can sound daunting at times.

"All of Them Were Quiet," with its wide mood swings, is reminiscent of Carl Stalling's ingenious score work for the Looney Tunes cartoons. "Worrywart Spoonguy" sounds like a lost Zappa composition, with its combination of odd-time workouts (complete with banjo and marimba) and mocking, stentorian horn section.

As a test, check out "Archaic Peace Strategies." It's a compact example of Keneally's music. If you can handle the explosive horn-and-band parts, a bit of solo trombone and tricky trumpet-and-guitar lines, this album's for you.

Also, if you're a fan of the Roots and 311, Medeski Martin & Wood will satisfy. The trio toured with the two bands this summer, and I, for one, am a big fan of their organic melding of jazz and extended grooves.

With production help from John King of the Dust Brothers team, Medeski has broadened his keyboard palette from piano, organ and clavinet to include some vintage instruments. There's what sounds like a mellotron on the opening mock-horror "Anonymous Skulls," the dexterous shuffle of "Shine It" and the druggy buzz of the mutant Brazilian "Midnight Poppies/Crooked Birds."

For my money, MM&W dish out the best combo music for head and feet.