The Career of Oscar Brown Jr. Would Fill a (Musical) Book : The master songster brings his brand of jazz, blues and humor back to Wheeler Hot Springs, where he packed the house the last time.

When last he hit the Wheeler Hot Springs stage four years ago, Oscar Brown Jr. held a full house in thrall, spinning out songs and theatrical threads from his 30-plus years of writings. A jazz trio swirled about him. He had it all going. Expect more of the same when the veteran singer-songwriter returns to Wheeler on Sunday.

Four years back, Brown was enjoying another one of his periodic cultural surfacings, courtesy of Rickie Lee Jones, who had just done a cover version of his charming ‘60s’ tune “Dat Dere” on her provocatively economical standards collection, “Pop Pop.” Jones, an Ojai resident, showed up to pay respects.

Even if Brown’s name isn’t quite a household one, musicians and aficionados have been paying respects for decades. In Brown’s song book, nearly 500 titles strong by now, are lyrical versions of Nat Adderley’s “Work Song,” Miles Davis’ “All Blues” and Mongo Santamaria’s “Afro Blue,” as well as originals--often funny and/or socially charged--such as “Signifyin’ Monkey,” “Brown Baby,” and “Brother, Where Are You?”

The Chicago-based Brown began writing songs, in the great American musical tradition, by threading them into theatrical structures, beginning with his early ‘60s Kicks and Company. He has since written numerous theater pieces, experimenting with dramatic structures and wending his way around conventions as he goes.

At the moment, Brown has been in Los Angeles assembling his first book of poetry, to be called “Advancing.” There has also been rumors of a reissue project that would rescue his old albums from slumber in the vaults. “There has been talk, but no deal as of yet,” Brown said in an interview. “I’m looking forward to having some of that old stuff. It would be nice, especially since I’m still trying to eat out of that.

“In addition to that, I’m pretty interested in learning about the Internet. That’s a whole new world. I want to get on the superhighway and see how far I can ride.”

Although his musical language takes ingredients from blues and jazz, Brown also injects the humor and tale-spinning qualities of cabaret music in his shows. “I grew up with that,” he said.

Does Brown still write as many songs as he used to, or does inspiration come in waves?

“Last year, I wrote about 18 songs in 30 days. That was my whole year’s quota,” he said with a laugh. “Now, I’m just writing along. I’m always doing something. I’m just writing my way through life.”

Alive & Kicking: For Ventura County’s classical music scene, this has been a season of grand-scale hoopla, transition and ambition. Depending on whom you talk to, the list could also include grand upheaval.

At root: the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza upped the ante of performance possibilities here and set a shaky stage for a planned merger between two thirtysomething orchestras--the Ventura County Symphony and the Conejo Symphony--into the New World, I mean New West Symphony.

But, as the wisdom goes, sometimes the biggest news arrives in the smallest packages. Last week’s wonderful and definitively un-grand “Musics Alive!” program, focusing mainly on Korean music, capped off a three-concert mini-series richly deserving kudos. The series, presented through the Ventura County Symphony machinery, with help from the Ojai Festival, showed off a generous spirit of adventure and pan-global respect.

As with last year’s series, the concerts this season presented a willfully broad sampling of music and expanded cultural perspective. Last Wednesday’s show, at the Poinsettia Pavilion, was the least attended but made the strongest impact of the three concerts, in terms of living up to the series agenda.

The initial Japanese concert, at the Pavilion in February, struggled to find dynamic reconciliation between thundering taiko drumming and the airy delicacies of Takemitsu. Last month’s bold “Musics in the Hebraic Tradition,” in the acoustically fabulous Forum Theatre of the Civic Arts Plaza, stretched parameters a bit. Is not much of Western music of the last century, in some way, in a Hebraic tradition?

Everything came together, however, in the Korean program, which went by the handle of “Strings Alive!”

With the uncertain future of the New West entity and the ever-pressing crunch of funding--despite the generally solid attendance of the programs--the “Musics Alive!” series may be facing a premature demise, which would be a shame. Here’s hoping that the show can go on next year.

Details

* WHO: Oscar Brown Jr.

* WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Sunday ( prix fixe dinner begins at 5:30 p.m.)

* WHERE: Wheeler Hot Springs, 16825 Maricopa Highway, Ojai.

* HOW MUCH: $45 (with dinner).

* CALL: 646-8131.