"Summit meeting" is a term that has all but fallen out of use in music commentary, but it is applicable to the eponymous debut of Onilu, the trio of Joe Chambers, Kevin Diehl, & Chad Taylor. (Onilu is Yoruba for drummer). For over a half-century, Chambers has brought an incisive compositional sensibility to percussion-centric music; & while most of the eight compositions are credited to Sonic Liberation Front leader Diehl &/or the nearly ubiquitous Taylor, Chambers' gravity centers the proceedings. While there is abundant energy & exhilaration throughout the album, there is a current of palpable solemnity that, arguably, can best be mustered in tandem with an esteemed elder like Chambers. There is a gentle seesawing between pieces rooted in traditional materials like "Nyamaropa," a piece that first appeared on the Nonesuch Explorer classic now title Zimbabwe: The Soul of Mbira - Traditions of the Shona People, & recently composed works like Taylor's "Mainz," a piece which Jeff Parker has recorded two notable contrasting versions. Even when the intensity of the material approaches a boil, as on "A Meta Onilu" when all three man a drum kit, each stroke seems prescribed by ancient protocol. With each listening, not only do the layers in every piece vibrate more vividly, but each piece becomes more entwined with the others. Onilu is unassumingly profound. It does not shout from the ramparts, nor does it shake its fist at the oppressors. It relays a message that has been passed down through the centuries, despite it being waylaid by the middle passage & repressed through enslavement & its aftermath. It is a message of determination & ultimate conviviality. It is a recording that meets the current moment.
—Bill Shoemaker, pointofdeparture.org.

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