I had the same situation growing up in Manitowish Waters, not far from where you live. I was fortunate to be able to play with my Dad (drummer) at an early age, and jam with his friends who did a fair amount of jazz and swing music. If not for that, I'd never have gotten off the ground.
For me, the essential part of my early jazz education came from listening constantly. Every night, from 10:00pm 'til 2:00 am, I listened to Minnesota Public Radio's Jazz programming, without fail. I got to the point where I could pretty much identify anybody they aired; I used to do my own "blindfold tests". I had a lifetime subscription to Down Beat, the only jazz mag at the time. I remember, before I even owned a bass (this goes
way back), I used to detune the lowest four strings on my sister's classical guitar and play basslines with records. Now, I can't believe how much listening I did. It just never ended! I think that was the best thing I could have done to prepare for my future as a bassist. I learned a million tunes, and figured out a lot of how this s**t works, just by having those headphones on every night. Plus, it got me used to staying up late
Tab didn't exist; I still can't read that stuff. Standard notation is a lot more useful to a jazz musician. But to me, the first thing would be to listen to as many great jazz bassists as you can stand, just to give yourself a little context.
PS...CTXBass' suggestion is a great one. The Jamey Aebersold publications and play-alongs have helped a lot of people who don't have access to live jazz musicians to play with. That's a good link, check it out for some basic jazz info.
