Guidance regarding 2 female Jazz legends please..

You have picked two of the greats. As a life long fan of Nina Simone I am more familar with her catalog. She transcends many musical styles, jazz, blues, folk, broadway, rock and pop. All of her albums are different and worthwhile. Her current catalog on cd is littered with best ofs, greatest hits, compliations, 2fers and some individual albums. One of my favorite and one she oftens states that she is very proud of is "Nina Simone and Piano" It is available as a single cd and on a 2fer. As far as Billie Holiday my favorite lp is "Songs for Distingue Lovers".

I am probably less familiar with Nina Simone than Rec, but I can recommend "Nina Simone sings the Blues". I have this on DCC vinyl. The sound is good, but it is an old recording and is not a stellar one. I have not heard "Nina Simone and Piano", but it sounds like I should. As for Billie Holiday, the famous "Lady in Satin" is my favorite. I also have this on LP, rather than CD. It is a very, very good recording, but I have no idea about the CD.

check allmusic.com for suggestions. a terrific web site overall that doesn't get quirky with its suggestions. many jazz artists recorded with multiple labels over their careers, so it can be tricky finding just one cd that contains all of the essential stuff. with billie holiday, i'd go with something from columbia, although some of the well-known songs, like strange fruit, were done on other labels.