What you are asking for is a tall order given Jazz without even considering all the wannabe or commercially mislabled groups or artiste claiming to be playing jazz stuff aka Kenny G.... You are seeking someone to recommend you condense summarised selection or album that can encompass all the diverse style, standards and era of jazz. That is like picking you a stone from a pile of stones as high as Mount Everest. Unlike pop music, Jazz is really wide.
You need to narrow it down to what sort of jazz you have heard around town (though I personally think it is rubbish jazz I hear 99% of the time locally even if a foreign black or white band/guy is performing it) If something appeals to you from what you heard, try to recall what instruments were used. Was there vocal?..etc. Usually what I call light-weight jazz is where people first start to appreciate jazz as it is more simplify and easy on the ears. If you are thrown into the deep end with old standards like from legends like Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass or some underground or experimental stuff from more later era ones like Sypro Gyra or some fusion from even Japan like Casiopea which is very edgy and rock....I can go one..but suffice to say...some of those more hardcore will put you off from day one.
So if you want more help to narrow down the choices you need to let us know more. Jazz is not something you dive in and you
"get it" within one or two album or even after you have bought your 100th jazz album. It is easy for anyone to recommend you an album but that will usually be based on his/her already "aquired" taste of jazz... which can be either very light or very hardcore. In other words their recommendation can make or break your interest even before you have a chance to truly find that out yourself.
I would say, stick to those tunes that you heard, get something close to that so at least you are not wasting your money on something you will listen to a few times and throw away. Try to sample jazz from websites that carrys a large varieties of jazz music. This will help you narrow your choice further too. Like me, I am very into strings as in guitars most of the time, I also like old standards from jazz greats of old right up to the late 80s after that period...I think jazz is not as innovative and it really starts to get very "copied" and very "formulic" but that is just me lah...though I have some following of present jazz players but not many to mention. I have jazz for various moods too..from those that leaves you very relax to something that just gets you under your skin and set your spirit soaring and there are those which really inspire me to move and help me with my creative work. What I am driving at is...jazz unlike pop music if you really start to appreciate it, really can help you centre your mood or you can use it to change your mood. Jazz is organic meaning it always will be changing. If you listen to a great jazz artiste on stage, if you go to his concert for 7 day straight you will notice that same tunes he plays will not be the same each time. That's because it is not about playing the tune note for note but interpreting it at that moment he is playing and how he use it to motivate that particular audience that day. Okay I am rambling abit but that is just to give you an idea as to what jazz is all about from my perspective.
Go slow. Narrow what you want to try first...and not leave it to others to lead you as it is likely to be wrong for you and as I say, kill your interest before you even gave it half a chance if the one who recommend it as either not really into jazz but just chip in or you have one so bias into one type who would end up leading you to something you don't like or someone who recommend you some really advacne jazz stuff that scare you away. heheheh.. Jazz's closest resemblement I would say is classical music. As you know...some classical tune are great to listen to but some will send you to sleep or irritate the hell out of you. Jazz is the same monster. heheh....