I will third (fourth? fifth?) Levine's Theory text... that is one heckuva book. I am also enjoying Baker's "Patterns for Jazz" for exercises, as I can't make myself sit down and work on the Aebersold exercise runs over and over and... (Hey, don't forget to get some sort of Real/Fake book either, to apply all that theory).
To me, the most frustrating part of jazz is actually finding cats to play it with, especially outside of a heavily settled area. I attended a community college for Jazz guitar (and I played Alto Sax in school bands), and found most of the students (and some of the jazz faculty) rarely played anything resembling jazz outside of school. The Aebersold play-a-longs are great in this regard, as it gives you experience with good players who aren't going to cut your chops down or not be available. Admittedly, they could make up some different parts after a couple of rehearsals, and Jamey counts the same way every time...
I came back to playing jazz by getting deeper into Western Swing recently (not to mention getting a new guitar, which lends itself to the music as well). Once the bug bit again - I was hooked. My country side has only benefitted from my excursions, though I suspect this time it's a bit more than a side road for me. I'm enjoying the challenge of utilizing what I know on guitar to the mando, though I get frustrated when I have to keep looking up chord voicings (yes, I know, use theory and make them... I get so lazy sometimes!)
Niles' suggestions are true, and my guitar professor (who did play jazz outside of school and was studying with Yusef Lateef at the time...) believed that listening was more important than just practicing. He felt that if you filled the listening glass with musical water, it couldn't help but overflow...
Dave
1984 Flatiron A5-2
1930 (?) Regal Tenor
Toil without song is like a weary journey without an end.
H. P. Lovecraft
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