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NEW ORLEANS — Talk about full circle.

Gambit Weekly

In 1994, Lenny Kravitz — then an on-top-of-the-world, 30-year-old New Orleanian — recorded a funked-up version of Gene Simmons’ tongue-wagging “Deuce” for the cover album KISS My Ass: Classic KISS Regrooved. Earlier this year, the French dance duo Justice remixed Kravitz’s first single, the title track of his debut album, Let Love Rule. This week, the multigenerational, seemingly unrelated musicians will all come together in New Orleans City Park, as headliners at the 11th annual Voodoo Music Experience.

For Kravitz, it will be a homecoming of sorts. The iconic musician, interior designer and now movie star (he has a small but pivotal part in Lee Daniels’ acclaimed film Precious) returns to the Crescent City for the first time since releasing his eighth studio album, It Is Time For a Love Revolution (Virgin). He’s currently on tour in support of Let Love Rule, which is getting the 20th anniversary deluxe reissue treatment from Virgin, replete with a second disc of previously unreleased live material.

Gambit called Kravitz in advance of the trip to discuss his second collaboration with Daniels (a lead role in 2010?), his fastidious studio habits (playing everything from kick drum to clavinet) and his latest musical endeavor (featuring Allen Toussaint on piano and no longer titled “Funk”).

I hear you’re rehearsing. What song were you playing?

We just finished working on “Blues for Sister Someone,” off the first album.

You’re kicking off the tour with five gigs in a row at Irving Plaza, and finishing as a headliner at Voodoo. What’s it like for you, coming back to New Orleans?

I spent a lot of years there. I pass through whenever I can. But I’ve been over in Europe.

Do you still have a residence here?

I don’t know where I live, dude. I’m all over the place. I stop by whenever I can. I was living in South America a couple years ago, three years ago, living in Brazil for a while. I flew straight from Brazil to New Orleans and got my fix for a few days.

Anything in particular you miss when you’re gone?

I miss my friends that are there. I miss the vibe. The food, for sure. The music. I miss going on my second lines.

Tell me about recording parts of Funk with Allen Toussaint.

I used his studio, and he did play on one track. It doesn’t have a title yet, because I haven’t done the vocal to that one. But a bunch of that stuff from that time will be on the next record. I started all that stuff when I moved there, you know. That was a while ago. Must have been 15 years ago. I was working on Circus, living in the Quarter.

For the complete Gambit interview with Lenny Kravitz, which talks about the title of his new album and how he started out drumming on pots and pans, click here. For interviews with The Pogues and Ledisi, click here, where you’ll also be able to find profiles of some of Voodoo’s biggest acts.

When you’re finished over there, it’s time to figure out who you’ll be seeing, and when you’ll be seeing them. As usual, WWLTV.com and Gambit are here to help. Get our best bets at Voodoo, chosen by four Eyewitness News members with some help from Gambit.

Lenny Kravitz closes out Voodoo at 7 p.m. Sunday on the Voodoo Stage.