Listening (seriously) to 1950's-1970's jazz for almost 4 years and having bought about 400 jazz LPs, I can't help but acknowledge that I'm still far from having developped a global appreciation of that stylistically rich and vast musical universe. Maybe it will come giving it some time and effort, maybe not.

What genres of jazz are you personnaly more or less comfortable with ? Here it is for me :

Jazz genres that I tend to like the most :

• 50's/60's Hard-bop : this is my go-to straight-ahead stream of jazz . Think Prestige, Blue Note classics of that era. It's got the blues and the melody and everything...
• 60's Soul-Jazz : an extension of the former, I know some snobs scoff at it for being 60's cocktail or spy-movie muzak, but I like the B3's, the guitars and the groove. Late 60's soul-jazz, especially, when it blurred with jazz-funk is dope.
• 70's Fusion and Jazz-Funk : probably my gateway to jazz and still a firm favorite. I like the groovy, head-bopping, toe-tapping stuff mainly (CTI, Herbie's Headhunters, Roy Ayers, etc.). I have a gigantic hard-on for the Fender Rhodes sounds. Snobs will hate it but whatever. Not fond of the more rock/heavy guitar fusion stuff though (sorry John McLaughlin, but your music tends to leave me cold).

Jazz genres that I have a hard time appreciating:

• 40's/50's Be-bop : Bit too fast and complex and virtuosity-centric. Probably sounds a bit "old-timey" to my ears aswell.
• 60'/70's Post-bop : I'm partial to this one as its definition is very blurry. A lot of the time, I find this style very "dry". It clearly has an intellectual approach to it, sometimes reminding me of classical composition. Especially the piano stuff, even though i love McCoy Tyner for instance. I think of it as a less approachable form of Modal Jazz. The ECM stuff I find very dull (sorry, downvote as you will) as it rarely swings or groove.
• 60's-onward Free Jazz : With the exception of the spiritual jazz stream, I just don't get it. I like my structures, my harmonies and grooves. Probably a genre popular for those who like experimental music in general rather than purely jazz heads.
• Traditional jazz genres : Yeah the pre-WW2 old-timey jazz stuff like swing, big band, stride...I'm not getting it, but it's fun to dance to.