Joe Jackson and Morgan Cameron, the husband-and-wife team behind Jackson Pianos, are on a mission to create piano-powered change in St. Louis. Their new eatery and event space—which incorporates repurposed piano wood into the décor and music into every aspect of the programming—will serve as a community hub, education outlet, and performance venue. Noteworthy Cultural Center and Cafe (504 Newstead) will host its grand opening on Saturday, September 6, with a benefit concert, food, drinks, and more. Here’s what to know before you go.
The Background
Jackson Pianos has made a name for itself tuning, repairing, rebuilding, renting, selling, moving, storing, and refinishing pianos since 1998. From its headquarters in the Central West End, the company services pianos in live music venues, as well as private homes across the country—and it has even strategically positioned public pianos across the metro area in places such as St. Louis Lambert International Airport and Forest Park.
Jackson and Cameron actively support piano initiatives such as Pianos for People, a nonprofit that offers lessons and pianos to those who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford them, and Keys to the Community, a program through which they donate pianos to St. Louis-area bars and restaurants on the condition that they hire and pay piano players.
With Noteworthy, however, Jackson and Cameron will operate in reverse, using the allure of piano music to bring people to the CWE.
“The list of objectives is long, but at the top is to provide one-of-a-kind experiences to draw county people to the city—and to time things so we finish at lunch or dinner, then work with local Central West End businesses to ferry customers from us to them,” Jackson explains.
Construction on Noteworthy began in 2023 on the site of a former car wash at the corner of Olive and Newstead, just a block from the Jackson Pianos showroom and workshop (4354 Olive). Bemberg Architecture reimagined the interior and exterior, transforming it into a fanciful musical playground, where the floors, tables, and walls will incorporate dismantled piano parts and salvaged raw materials.
“Our main focus is being a touchstone for the neighborhood and providing a unique piano lens we process art and culture through,” Jackson says.
The Café
Starting in September, the café will be open seven days a week, from approximately 6:30 a.m.–1 p.m.
There will be a small seating area, as well as a counter selling teas, coffees, and baked goods.
The café will host shows and classes in the afternoons and evenings.
“Our fare will be very light, with delivery of pastries from an undetermined provider and fresh- baked cookies, granola, and bagels with an assortment of toppings,” Jackson says. “We are a culture center with a café, so we will have a method to our operations.”
The Cultural Center
Jackson and Cameron have already begun experimenting with events as the buildout wraps up.
“Some experiences you can expect will be piano yoga with live music; in-depth classes on jazz,
classical, and blues piano by some of the top performers in our region and beyond, with a focus
on how instruments work; and hands-on repairs for the untrained player, plus a whole series of
programs for children and the elderly,” Jackson says.
Some of the programming will draw on Cameron’s expertise in yoga and her experiences as a
professional dancer and ballet teacher. Other events will feature hands-on classes in how
pianos work and in repurposing old piano wood to build objects such as bird houses.
Noteworthy will also be part of an ongoing collaboration with the Scotland-based PianoDrome, an internationally recognized art installation and performance space made entirely from reclaimed pianos. Jackson Pianos plans to send technicians and builders from its workshops to Edinburgh to study with the creators there. Raising funds for the trip is the goal of the benefit concert during the September 6 grand opening celebration.
The PianoDrome partnership is Jackson Pianos’ second international effort this year. In early 2025, they donated and shipped 20 pianos to the Bukulasa Seminary in Uganda in partnership with the Melodies of Change initiative and Father Thomas Sserwadda, a Ugandan who met Jackson and Cameron while studying in St. Louis.
Outdoors, Noteworthy will be surrounded by a patio, an outdoor stage for live music, and a meditation garden designed by Jackson’s parents, Bob Babel and Mary Jackson. The entire complex will be set off by a custom-designed fence of concrete blocks and (of course!) piano parts.
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