Frank E. Taylor was born in Vicksburg, MI on March 12, 1913. Taylor studied music at Chicago’s Sherwood School of Music and later at the University of Michigan before returning to Kalamazoo as the organist for the State Theater. Taylor played at the State Theater from 1934 to 1937 before embarking on a career that took him to California, New York City, St. Louis, North Carolina, and more. Taylor returned to Kalamazoo in 1950 to play at the State and the nearby Schensul’s Cafeteria. Taylor died on February 22, 1997 and is buried at Mount Ever-rest Memorial Park in Kalamazoo.

The Kalamazoo State Theater (404 S. Burdick St.), where Taylor played in the early years of his career, was built in 1927 on the corner of South Burdick St. and Lovell St. Originally designed to host silent film and vaudeville acts, the theater was equipped with a Barton Theatre Organ that was used to play musical accompaniments to silent films. As silent films were steadily replace by “talkie” films, the organ received less use. The theater stopped showing first-run films in 1982, casting the future of the theater into doubt. Members of the community led a grassroots movement to save the building. Their efforts were successful and the State Theater has remained a fixture in downtown Kalamazoo ever since, mostly hosting live performances of musician and comedy acts.