I’m not at my piano, so I can’t guarantee this is exactly what I do. Anyway, here’s a way to jazz up a 2-5-1 progression: Play ii-V-I7-I or some suitable variation, where I7 means the dominant seventh chord of the tonic. It is used as a passing chord here. I find the dominant seventh to be a suitable jazzy passing chord if played correctly.
Here’s an example written out in F:
LH / RH
G,D / F,A,Bb,D … Gmin9
C, G, Bb / E,A,Bb,D …C13
F,C,Eb / Eb,G,A,D …F13
F,C,E / G,A,F …Fmaj9
Those are some pretty phat chords. Making sure to play the F13 as a passing chord. If this helps, I can discuss more…