R&B singer/guitarist Teena Marie has been putting together quality music for 30 years.

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The Ivory Queen of Soul, Teena Marie, will grace the stage this Saturday at Miami’s Fifth annual Jazz in the Gardens concert at Sun Life Stadium.

Recently I caught up with the legendary R&B soulstress who gave us such hits as “It Must Be Magic”, “Square Biz”, “Portuguese Love”, “I Need Your Lovin’” and “Fire and Desire”, the classic duet with funk icon Rick James. Here’s what she had to say about her longevity in the music business, the “color question,” James, her mentor and one-time romantic partner, and the state of music today.

Last year you celebrated your 30th year in the music business with the release of your 13th CD, Congo Square. You took a hiatus to raise your daughter but your comeback has been successful. What is the secret to your longevity?

TM: I’m still really passionate about the music. It’s kind of like breathing for me. It’s still very exciting to me. I still love to perform. I still feel like I have a lot to say. I just live it and I try to be truthful and honest about who I am. Everything I feel is the same thing you feel, the same thing everyone feels. I just have an amazing gift that I’m able to put it into song. God blessed with a beautiful instrument and I cherish that every day of my life.

Your web site bio makes mention of the fact that the black community has embraced you as their own. Why is that important to you and why do you think the black community has welcomed you with such open arms?

I get asked that all the time. And it’s interesting because it wasn’t like that at all in the beginning. I never really dealt with the color question. It’s only been in the last few years. I think it’s because there’s a lot of white soul singers now. That has to be what it is. It was never an issue before. When I started singing it was unheard of for anyone of my color to sound like me. My picture wasn’t on the album cover. (Motown CEO Barry) Gordy felt the music was that black sounding that it would take off on its own merit. He wanted to let the music speak for itself. It just happened that he African-American community absolutely loved and embraced me. That’s a blessing. I don’t think that there’s been anyone in last 30 years that has been looked at and accepted like that. If you go to a Teena Marie concert, 80 percent of the people will be black. At a Justin Timberlake concert, the majority will be white. I’m just that integrated in the music culture and I think that’s a beautiful thing.

How would you describe Rick James’ influence over your career?

I would say that he was major a influence. He was my best friend. He was brilliant. To be in the studio with him and to be able to be around that kind of genius and not just Rick — to be around Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye — it was an absolutely amazing time in my life. Rick taught me a lot about production, working with musicians and song writing and he was my best fiend so we had a lot of fun, too. I think about him all the time. That part of it is really hard for me and really difficult. Last night I was in the studio and it felt like he was there. It kind of makes me sad to know he won’t walk in the studio any more and say, “Let me sing that part.” But I still feel like he’s around me.

In “Square Biz”, you recite a list of names; Sarah Vaughan, Johann Sebastian Bach, Shakespeare, Maya Angelou, and Nikki Giovanni. How have they inspired you?

I just loved Nikki’s poetry when I was young and still do. Some people just touch you in a place where others don’t she was one of those people that did. I was able to stand on stage and sing with Sarah Vaughan. She was my absolute all time favorite singer. To be a young kid and have conversation with her — those are the moments that I cherish.

Who are some of your favorite artists today?

Jill Scott, Erykah Badu. I love anyone that’s inspired and that tries to put good music on the earth that doesn’t hurt people. It’s very important the words that come out of our mouths because people look at us in a certain way. We have the power to change lives with the things that we say. I feel that we have a deep, deep commitment to not put anything derogatory on the earth.

What do you see as the biggest changes in the music industry over the past 30 years?

I love gangsta rap, the original Gs. I love Ice Cube and Tupac — the original stuff. The stuff right after that … it just became really like overtly foul and completely degrading to women. The whole lifting up of gold and platinum chains, come on, rims and all that. For real? That’s where we are? That’s where living? I hated that period. It seems like it’s starting to change. We have some great artists. It’s just not a lot of them. Back in the day, you turned on the radio, you knew that was Earth Wind and Fire, you knew that was the Emotions, Crosby Still and Nash, and Led Zeppelin. Everything had its own unique sound and motivation and it was just an absolutely amazing time. There’s just not as many great artists. We have a whole generation of children that got lost. They didn’t know anything about instruments. They got caught up in the whole rims and that’s supposed to make you somebody. We can’t really fault them. I had role models. There’s a whole generation of young people that had no role models. Their parents didn’t rear them that way.

Tell us about Congo Square, your 13th studio CD.

It’s introspective, very inspirational. I really love New Orleans, When I got off the plane in New Orleans 30 years ago it felt like home and was just very mystical to me and I just felt that I had been there before. I wanted to do a record. My daughter is half West Indian and the majority of slaves in New Orleans were from the West Indies. At Congo Square in New Orleans slaves could go dance and sing their own songs on Sunday. I thought of how amazing that must have sounded. People that were enslaved for a few hours on a Sunday were able to forget that and I thought about that and then I thought about the great jazz era and Louie Armstrong being the father of jazz. I thought all about the incredible musicans that came through New Orleans and the young people like Jill Scott and Erykah Badu and myself still trying to do inspired, great music and I thought it would be really awesome if Congo Square was our address. Every single song on the album is dedicated to someone that inspired me.

What can fans expect from your show Saturday?

It’s a surprise.