I remember being a child taking that 4 hour drive to Indianapolis to see my family listing to his greatest hits album in my dads car non stop.. this song always stuck with me.
I couldn't find this one tune on youtube but I did find it on this free streaming media player site I use to listen to music that isn't on youtube. The tune is by Najee it's called Vibin and it features Roy Ayershttp://grooveshark.com/#!/search?q=najee+vibin%27
I started out listening to Big Band when I was about 15 or 16 and progressed from there but I still have barely scratched the surface like you said there is so much stuff out there.
A really good way to discover great jazz is looking up rap samples, I've been put on some many great artists through sampling, its like I already have a love and appreciation for their music because I grew up listening to the music that sampled them.