“I guess my greatest accomplishment is just that I’m still here after 10 years.” – Lenny Kravitz

DURING the last 10 years, Lenny Kravitz has tested a wide assortment of musical styles in forging his sound, which is contemporary, yet rooted in the past. His current album, “5,” is the man’s most eclectic to date. Kravitz, who appears tomorrow at the Jones Beach Amphitheater, spoke with The Post this week. Here’s what’s on his mind.

Post: Even critics who abuse your recordings rarely trash your shows. What’s the secret to playing live?

Kravitz: First, most bands can’t play live. When you’re on stage you gotta play from your heart, you gotta be real. There’s no tricks, you just play.

Post: Who in music – not just in rock, but also in R&B and jazz – is important to you and has affected your sound?

Kravitz: There are so many, man. From the time I was 5, who grew up listening to everybody and every genre. I didn’t just frequent pop or jazz concerts when I was young, but I’d go to classical concerts, too. But Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix and Motown music is what really got me going.

Post: What do you feel is your biggest accomplishment in music has been so far?

Kravitz: I really can’t say. I don’t look at my stuff like that. I don’t rate it. I guess my greatest accomplishment is just that I’m still here after 10 years.

Post: On your last disc, “5,” there are a variety of styles that you use that are new to you. Does this disc mark a different direction for your music?

Kravitz: No, what you hear is the natural evolution in my sound. The next album will be different from this one.

Post: On “5” there’s even a little West Indian music. On your next project, do you envision more world-beat music?

Kravitz: That could happen, but I really don’t know. There are so many styles. I love music in general, so it won’t be until I’m in the studio and start working on the next record that I will even have a clue.

Post: Have you ever considered a producer other than yourself?

Kravitz: No. I’ve never been produced. I’ve always done it myself.

Post: Why?

Kravitz: Because I love producing, and I also can play five instruments. It makes music more like painting. A painter starts with a blank canvas; I start with a blank piece of tape.

Post: Besides yourself, whom have you produced?

Kravitz: Oh, I did Madonna’s “Justify My Love,” I’ve produced Brandy, Curtis Mayfield and Cree Summer.

Post: What does a good producer do for an artist?

Kravitz: A producer helps the artist they’re working with to bring out the music they are trying to make. A producer will embellish and bring form to an artist’s vision. Then he might add elements that the artist might not have envisioned initially, but are not out of context.

Post: On “5” there’s a very optimistic song called “Take Time.” Can you talk about that song?

Kravitz: That’s my favorite song – well, maybe not my favorite song, but it has a great groove. When you turn that one up really loud it is a very powerful track. I love that song. It has a very simple message, really, it talks about us as human beings trying to find the essence of what we really are … we want to give love and be loved. It’s about taking a moment to examine the core of being human and strip away the b——-.

Post: Is that a recurring theme in your music?

Kravitz: Yeah, exploring love and truth is in many of my songs.

Post: Lenny, you grew up in New York, lived in California, New Orleans and now Miami. Is it a conscious effort to live throughout America?

Kravitz: No, not really. I’m in Miami now to be closer to my daughter, who’s in the Bahamas.

Post: How old is your daughter?

Kravitz: She’s 10. I don’t see her every day because we’re often on the road, but being a dad is amazing. There are very few words that can describe how great a responsibility it is, how great a blessing and joy it is.

Post: Is the song “Little Girl’s Eyes” for your daughter?

Kravitz: Yes, I wrote it for her.

Post: How does she handle being a star’s kid?

Kravitz: I don’t push that at all. I don’t teach her that. This is my job, it’s what I do. I’m no more special than anybody else. Because of my job she enjoys privileges that other children don’t, but I was like that, too. I was exposed to the arts because my parents were in the business. What I try to teach her is, it’s about being an artist, not being a star. You have to teach kids that it’s about what’s inside, not about what you do. You have to be able to look at yourself in the mirror and be happy with yourself. My mother always taught me, enjoy what you do, but that’s not who you are. She taught me not to put all of my worth in the material side, because when the material things go, all that’s left is you.

Post: When you write music, is it narrative or autobiographical?

Kravitz: When you listen to my music you know a little about me, but you don’t know everything … until I move in with you. I hear songs in my head. Last night I dreamed a song, and I heard the whole track. I like it when it comes like that, it’s like I’m listening to a record. I woke up, and I remembered a lot of it and wrote it down. That’s one of the ways music comes to me.

Post: Your music is considered by many to be retro, to be derivative of other artists from the ’60s and ’70s. When Prince does the same thing he gets cut some slack, but you get bashed. Why?

Kravitz: I’m multifaceted, I’m multicultural. Because of that I disturb these people. They gotta give somebody s—. I see the same critics giving me s— for the same thing they praise other artists for. When I read reviews about me they sometimes seem personal, but they can’t be because they don’t know me. All I can say is everybody has their influences, every great legend has their influences. I don’t worry about it.