Sadly, I was not able to receive any scores with actual voice parts from any of the past members or the bandleader of the VAO. I got some scores of pieces where the vocalist Lauren Newton is featured on the album, but the scores were then adapted for the NDR Big Band, which did not feature a vocalist. There are three pieces that really interested me in how Lauren Newton's very special, creative and extremely virtuosic approach to singing was exhibited. Even without the original scores, I would like to write about these pieces, trying to showcase them with some short audio examples.
Perpetuum Mobile:
In the beginnin of this piece, the voice switches between doubling the alto saxophone or trumpet and mostly only sings the kicks, not the lines leading up to them. When the alto sax solo comes in, she kind of voices out the pendulum motion that one associates with a perpetuum mobile with the bass and the baritone saxophone. There she is very noticeable because of the big difference in range, whereas before, she blended in quite nicely with the alto and the trumpet.
After the solo, there is a short shout chorus alternating with a trumpet solo, where Lauren also is doubling the lead trumpet's voice. The same scheme gets repeated with a bass solo.
Lady Delay:
The piece opens with a rare sight in big band music. The voice all alone singing a heavily motivic introductory melody. Only after more than one minute, she is joined by the bass trombone and percussion.
After that, a big part of the piece is a vocal solo, with often only a walking bass accompanying her, and the vocalist doing a very free, yet still harmonic interpretation of the solo. Ending in a big high forte moment, with all the horns playing backings as well, the piece crashes in in itself again, going back to a very sparse instrumentation, with an even freer solo by Lauren Newton, who is perpetually copied and reflected by other instruments in the band. The interplay in this part really makes out a big part of the vocalists role in this part of the piece. Everyone is listening very closely to each other and basically imitating "delays" of one another.
Towards the ending, a similar set up like in "Perpetuum Mobile" occurs, with a very short shout chorus alternated by a short solo, this time again from the vocalist though.
Voices without Words:
Voices without Words starts off with a tutti unison of the whole band, the vocalist included. The melodies they are playing are quite virtuosic, and not just for the vocals. After that, the voice is treated as a solo instrument, leading a rhythmical exchange between voice and percussion. They exchange sounds, and the percussionist tries to imitate the voice in pitch and timbre. Following that, the solo gets a bit more free, especially in the percussion's part, they stop trying to imitate the voice, and start collaborating in the solo with the voice. This solo takes up the whole rest of the piece, growing bigger and bigger in intensity and density, even though there is never a full participation of the whole band.