Solly Lipsitz, who has died in his native Belfast, made a major contribution to the city's cultural life. Probably his main achievements were being a lecturer in the Belfast College of Art who widened the musical tastes of generations of students; a first-class jazz musician and a record shop owner who broadened the range of music available in the Belfast of 50 years ago.
For much of his life, his main job was as a lecturer in the Belfast College of Art. His course of music appreciation was compulsory; his presentation and personality ensured it was not a chore.
He used to introduce himself to first-year classes in the 1970s by coming in and playing a couple of Bob Dylan tracks. Then he told them: "That's the sort of rubbish you'll not be hearing here" – though sometimes using a cruder word than "rubbish".
For Lipsitz, jazz was the highest form of music. However, he introduced his students to various styles of music. They emerged with broadened tastes in music, which many kept up. He was always accessible and enjoyed meeting students in the college canteen for a cup of tea.
He had discovered jazz in the 1940s, becoming a player of the guitar and banjo. Later, he opened Atlantic Records in the centre of Belfast. During the jazz and blues boom of the early 1960s, Lipsitz imported albums from the United States at a time when this music was little known in Ireland. It became a meeting place for music aficionados, including the young Van Morrison.
Lipsitz had a deep knowledge of art and was a discerning collector. He advised the Belfast Festival at Queen's on all matters relating to jazz. He contributed columns on jazz to the Belfast Telegraph and Newsletter .
His faith was important to him. He was a mine of lore about the Jewish community – and, as a proud Belfast man, about Belfast as a whole.
He is survived by his partner, Anne Graham.