Learning Songs
It is important to remember that the reason you learn chord shapes and progressions like II V I’s is so you will be able to play freely over the changes to real songs. To learn to play Jazz well, you will need to know lots of popular songs which have become standards.
There are many books available which are compilations of standards, often combined with more contemporary tunes. Probably the most famous of these is "The Real Book". Staff in most music stores will know about this book and it is recommended that you purchase either this book or a similar one and learn both the melodies and chord changes to as many standards as possible.
To get you started, here are some progressions to practice which are based on standards. Try practicing these by yourself or with a band. Learn each one using the chords indicated and then try out various substitutions using the methods described in the book.
No chord changes are written here because you are already familiar with the Blues progression. Memorize "Blues in E" (Section Five: 12 Bar Blues) and transpose it to the key of A. Your goal as a rhythm guitarist should be to play any progression by ear in any key. This is a lifetime study, but all good Jazz players can do this to a large extent.
