First learn what it is to play, which is a process for learning what you are. Find out what you are before deciding where you are going. Work from self back towards the convention - not to become absorbed by it, of course, but in order to contribute and to find a larger context in which to associate the music. The creative artist can never be part of the large convention, however, at least not for long. Jazz's contemporary convention is a result of the recording industry.
Recordings are a mixed blessing.
Having been a commercial boon to players and their distant fans, recordings are also a deceptive tool for learning. They are artefacts after the fact. Jazz is a process of adjusting to the musical moment. Listeners get a frozen moment's dressing up of a piece of music. They hear it over and over.