Zap Mama Ensemble Captivates as It Captures a Variety of Styles

Transformation was front and center in the performance of Zap Mama at UCLA’s Royce Hall on Friday. Transformation in the sense that the music captured the intrinsic connections within a dazzling array of seemingly incompatible cultural forms. And transformation in the sense that Zap Mama, which began as an all-female a cappella group, now has evolved into an utterly captivating performance ensemble, both its style and its presentation unrestricted by any single definition.

Marie Daulne, the gifted performer-composer who created the group a decade ago, has now largely recast it as a showcase for her remarkable talents.

Using every imaginable form of vocal expression, from grunts and sputters to shrieks and gorgeously lyrical singing, she triggered a seemingly improvisatory (but clearly well-planned) sequence of numbers. Her four vocal companions, picking up on her cues, added their own vocal effects, often building driving grooves from these unlikely sounds, frequently adding choreography that combined African, hip-hop and disco dance movements.

Much of the material came from a new album, the pun-titled “A Ma Zone,” the imaginative originality of the songs reflecting Daulne’s progress as an artist.