Last year, Paul McCartney recruited him to play drums on his 2012 album, Kisses on the Bottom. 

"I got the call, and initially, I didn't know who the session was with," Riggins says. "They said they booked it but couldn't tell me who it was. When I found out it was Paul McCartney, it was crazy. I played 9 or 10 songs on his last album. It was a great experience and Paul's people took care of us quite well." 

A DVD recording of McCartney playing the entire album inside of the Capitol Records studio featuring Riggins prominently is set for release this month. 

Riggins plans to tour Alone Together nationally and he promises a proper jazz album next year as well. 

Undeniably, these are good times for the hometown product. Well, mostly. Now that Alone Together is out, his only scheduled release party is New York. He tried to put together a Detroit release party, but a certain music venue (which we won't name) hasn't returned his phone calls. 

The quintessential Detroit story — famous elsewhere but not loved nearly as much at home.

"It's crazy, man. When I lived in L.A., I'd be pumping gas and folks would pull up and shout, ‘Yo, aren't you Karriem Riggins? ... Love your music,' yadda yadda. In Detroit, I don't get a double-take or nothing," he says, laughing. "But at the same time, I love Detroit. The energy here is like no other place in the world."

Jonathan Cunningham last appeared in these pages with a story about DJ House Shoes. Send comments to letters@metrotimes.com.

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