I haven't seen anything "wrong" in this thread (unless maybe I said it myself
), but Aaron is absolutely right about the process.
Jazz is as deep and sophisticated as classical music - albeit in different ways - and you need to spend years on it before you start really getting it.
But you can
feel it from the start - you can get the
vibe. You can build up from simple basics (eg 12-bar blues, major scales, ii-V-I sequences).
In fact that's the best way to go. Crazy to dive into the deep end of 11th and 13th chords, altered dominants, melodic minor modes, all that ****...
I'd start with Louis Armstrong. He's really the origin of it all - at least as far as the recorded canon goes. He was the first to make solo improvisation (personal interpretation) a major expressive part of the music, even though he was still working at a time when jazz was popular dance music.
And his music is
simple! It can often sound crude and cheesy to modern ears, but all the great jazz improvisers owe LA a debt. He's the daddy of them all, and they all know it.