A treble-pack of Captain Fingers in his funky fusion prime. These albums were the first under the guiding hand of Dave Grusin, with whom, remarkably, Ritenour retains a recording and performing relationship. It's Grusin's vision that binds these albums together, the hyper-smooth, FM-friendly production values dominating all. There are nods to contemporary sounds: on ‘The Storm’ Ritenour is a splendid Di Meola clone. But The Captain's Journey is primarily a voyage through sweet melodies; unchallenging harmonies and a light touch which belies the guitar man's deeper skills. Feel The Night is, if anything, even lighter, but Ritenour has more production clout and he's written the majority of the material. Not, though, Leo Sayer's ‘You Make Me Feel Like Dancing’, which sums up the height of the album's ambition, or lack of it. Rio (or Lee Ritenour in Rio as its original Japanese release was called) has, no surprise, more of the latin flavours that would enrich Ritenour's future releases. ‘Rio Funk’ also features a very young Marcus Miller and its danceable jive makes it memorable if not momentous. As a taste of what was to come (Grusin and Ritenour would really take off at GRP in the 1980s), these releases are an interesting prequel, but maybe only if you're a Captain Fingers or smooth jazz devotee.