Guidance regarding 2 female Jazz legends please..

I'll add another vote for "Songs For Distingue Lovers" and also the Commodore collection for Billie. I recently got "Lady In Satin" on cd (remastered by Columbia Legacy) and I'm not sure if I'd recommend that one yet--my speakers seem to be a bit too revealing of her by then ravaged voice, but I need to listen to it a bit more.

As far as Nina Simone, I have been listening to "Best Of the Colpix Years" alot lately. Sound quality varies wildly from track to track (this is a hodgepodge of singles and live recordingings from the early 60s), but there is a lot of good stuff on it. In particular, it contains a stunning rendition of "House of the Rising Sun" (sadly somewhat marred by iffy sound quality).

As a follow up, I did relsten to all my Billie Holiday cds, and I can defintely say that the Verve Master Edition of "Songs For Distingue Lovers" is the best sounding disc I have even if it is not the best example of her voice.

The Commodore recordings are a bit rough (from the 1930s), but they do include some great performances including her original rendition of "Strange Fruit". A better sounding disc of her early voice is Columbia/Legacy's "Greatest Hits", so that may be your best bet for early Billie.

Beware Verve's "Ultimate Billie Holiday". Some of the tracks are from vinyl and include surface noise. Also, I find Verve's "Billie's Best" (perhaps a misnomer as these are more recordings from the 50s) a bit bright sounding.

And upon further review, I really do not care for the way her voice is presented on the Columbia Legacy reissue of "Lady In Satin". It really seems to shine a harsh spotlight on her declining vocal chords--throws them right in your face. May be the vinyl is better.