By Loren Schoenberg, Conductor and Saxophonist These lists have been compiled with the newcomer to jazz in mind. We have shied away from compilations wherever possible, for the simple reason that you may very well wind up buying the complete albums that were excerpted in the compilations. Here you have a small but representative sampling of some of the very best music Billie Holiday recorded in every period of her career, with as little duplication as possible. Without Your Love Recorded June 15, 1937 (Courtesy Verve Music Group) Strange Fruit Recorded April 20, 1939 (Courtesy Verve Music Group) Solitude Recorded May 9, 1941 (Courtesy Columbia/Legacy) Fine and Mellow Recorded December 8, 1957 (Courtesy Verve Music Group) The Quintessential Billie Holiday Sony (9 volumes available individually) All or Nothing at All Verve Complete Decca Recordings Decca