I got in to jazz back in college, and I played guitar in the jazz combo in school. Later, I hosted an overnight jazz show on national public radio. it was pretty cool...they let me pick the records I would spin, and I would go on with a little something about each artist. It was a great way to get deep in to jazz.
Probably my favorites are musicians who actually composed tunes, with heads as opposed to just straight jam sessions which get boring after a while.
Bill Evans is my favorite pianist, I also like McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock and Joe Sample, Chick Corea, ... I also like Wes Montgomery, Lenny Breau and Grant Green on guitar...Trane, Dexter Gordon, Miles...pretty mainstream jazz stuff actually....and too many to list.
here is something that may help figure jazz out... Bill Evans the Universal Mind Of video.
All the parts are on YouTube, but I will only put 2 here you can get the rest there: