Mon on a Mission : Luciano, ‘The Reggae Messenger,’ stays true to Jamaica’s spiritual roots.

Caesar. Elvis. Godzilla. These and other one-named entities have generally overachieved to the point where they don’t need a last name. Add to that short list of short names Luciano, “The Reggae Messenger,” who will be bringing his brand of uplifting reggae to the Ventura Theatre on Thursday night. Opening will be more reggae from the Santa Barbara-based Cannons.

Born Jepher McClymont, the thirtysomething Luciano was the seventh of nine children raised by musical parents. His father built his own guitar and taught his son how to play. Luciano could always sing, beginning in church and later in the ubiquitous Jamaican mobile discos. But after his father died, the family needed money, so young Luciano took a number of odd jobs. With encouragement from friends, though, he successfully auditioned and began to record singles.

Five albums and many hits later, Luciano’s day jobs are history. His first single was a reggae version of “Ebony & Ivory” released in 1992. Several more cover songs followed until he scored a No. 1 U.K. hit in 1993 with “Shake It Up Tonight.” After recording with various producers, Luciano got lucky, hooking up with current producer and partner Philip Burrell of Xterminator Records.

Luciano’s music definitely isn’t the fun, fun, fun of dance-hall reggae; instead, he sings spiritually uplifting songs of traditional reggae--reggae gospel, if you will. Titles of some of his hits include “One Way Ticket,” “Poor & Simple” and “It’s Me Again Jah.” Luciano has just released his fifth album, “Sweeping Over Tour Soul.”

DETAILS

Luciano and the Cannons at the Ventura Theatre, 26 Chestnut St., 8 p.m. Thursday; $17; 653-0721.

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Sometimes they show up as a duo or a trio, but this time it’ll be everybody when the Janiva Magness Band brings some rockin’ blues to this week’s wingding at the Olivas Adobe in Ventura. Magness (the voice) and her husband Jeff Turmes (the writer) played as a duo once a month at Cafe Voltaire in Ventura for over a year, which led to a Ventura street fair gig last year. Now they’re back at the Adobe for the second straight year.

Magness is one of the best singers in L.A. and Turmes is one of the great underappreciated songwriters. Their debut album from 1997, “It Takes One to Know One,” is more of a duo thing and one of the best albums of the ‘90s--a blues classic that contains more than a dozen Turmes originals.

Turmes writes relationship songs about the Usual Suspects: Ms. Wrong, Miss Directed and Miss You, Baby. From “She Holds a Grudge,” a sample:

“She holds a grudge/Like an old woman holds a rosary/She ticks your sins off bead by bead ‘til she’s done/She harbors a grudge/Would take up half the Port of Los Angeles/Her pirate ship comes in and wipes out the town/She can be sweet as trick or treat/But don’t boss her, buster/She won’t budge/And you better not cross her/She holds a grudge/She keeps a gun/Hanging up in a holster above the bed/She’ll shoot the light out above your head just for fun/She keeps a dog/Locked up in a cage by the backyard fence/She’ll keep your undershirt just for evidence/He’ll track you down . . . “

These days, the group is working on a new album, “My Bad Luck Soul,” more of a group thing featuring such L.A. luminaries as Kid Ramos, Enrico Crivellaro and Karen Hammack. Here’s Magness’ lowdown on the goods:

“The duo probably does more country blues while the band does more rockin’ stuff, more blues and Memphis soul and songs by dead guys. It’s all definitely blues.”

Although they probably weren’t there during the initial phase of construction, both Magness and Turmes have been around the block before, and they’ve both had lots of experience. Magness has guested on countless albums and toured with Jimmy Buffett. She’s an ingratiating front woman, and when it’s least expected, comes across with a kazoo solo. Turmes is a multi-instrumentalist who has an extensive resume as a sideman, mainly with James Harman, Doug MacLeod and Hook Herrera. Expect them both to keep their night jobs.

“We’re going to keep making records,” Magness said. “We’re going to keep doing it and we all get along really well. In L.A., there’s lots of good bands and lots of good players. It’s feast and famine in this business, and we’re feasting right now. People may think all this is glamorous--well, it ain’t, but we’re still havin’ a blast.”

DETAILS

DETAILS: The Janiva Magness Band at the Olivas Adobe, 4200 Olivas Park Drive, Ventura, 7 p.m. Saturday; $10; 658-4726.

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With 19 solo albums to his credit, guitarist Phil Upchurch could probably play longer than the Grateful Dead in their heyday. He probably won’t, however, when he performs at a Sunday evening concert in Conejo Community Park in Thousand Oaks.

Born in 1941, Upchurch made his musical debut at age 8 playing the piano. By the time he got out of high school in 1958, he was playing guitar for the Spaniels, a doo-wop group. Upchurch became a studio player for legendary labels Vee-Jay and Chess, performing with the likes of Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, Ramsey Lewis, Jerry Butler and groups such as the Dells and the Moonglows.

In the early ‘60s, Upchurch hit the road and toured with Willie Dixon and Otis Rush, among others. After a stint in the Army, Upchurch toured with the Staples Singers and continued to work at Chess. Taking a turn for the mellow in the mid-’70s, Upchurch began playing with George Benson and later Julio Iglesias, Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson and many more. He had a song “6 to 4” on Benson’s “Breezin”’ album, which remains the largest selling jazz album of all time.

At home in both the blues and the jazz worlds, Upchurch has a resume almost as thick as the Thousand Oaks phone book. The 5 o’clock concert is of the ever-affordable free variety. The final musical adventure in the park will be on Sept. 6, when Yesterday plays songs of those Beatles.

DETAILS

Phil Upchurch at Conejo Community Park, Dover and Hendrix streets, Thousand Oaks, 5 p.m. Sunday; free; 381-2747.