bit of a crossover with the 'relationship with your dad' thread, but my dad was into 'trad' ( chris barber, acker bilk, etc., ) which destroyed my attempts to appreciate jazz at a young age, it was only getting a budget Miles Davis album which won me over, but the trad stuff was, well, shit..
but that's the UK scene - in the US they had 'cool', and Chet Baker, the no.1 smackhead horn player.. I've no idea what he sounds like, but his autobiography is on my 'to read list' - apparently it mostly consists of anecdotes about how to trick pharmacists into writing scripts to maintain your habit