Click on an image for a larger view.

Jazz and Pasta
By Erica Guttery

Caffe Boa offers style, romance and tasteful jazz. Making it a refreshing alternative to crowded dance floors, strobe lights and the latest 50 Cent ballad about his “magic stick” that other Mill Avenue venues might provide.

Caffe Boa features live jazz almost every night of the week. The house band, the Andy Margolis Trio, plays Tuesdays 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. and Fridays 9 p.m. to midnight. Tuesdays are jam sessions where other artists are invited to play with the band. “The jam session is really nice because it gives other musicians a chance…they can just come in after work,” bassist Justin Brotman says. On Fridays the band performs alone.

As the trio performs it’s obvious they’re comfortable with each other and their music. Pianist Andy Margolis can probably credit his ease to the fact that he’s been playing since the age of 5, “The piano naturally coaxed me in. Both my parents are musicians,” he says.

Rob Moore, the band’s drummer, became interested in jazz for a different reason, “I wanted to be famous like the drummer from Metallica,” he says, “but it was my first drum teacher who got me really into jazz, I owe everything to him.”

The band seeps energy as they play; giving an occasional shout to the crowd and making jokes in between songs. Caffe Boa is a perfect atmosphere for the trio because it mirrors the band’s mix of casualness and class with its charming European bistro ambiance. And the food’s not bad either; the menu boasts the award of "Best Italian Restaurant in the Southeast Valley," given by the Phoenix Gazette.

For something different than the run of the mill on Mill, Caffe Boa and the Andy Margolis Trio don’t disappoint.

If You Go:
Hours of Operation: Sunday-Wednesday 11am to 11pm,
Thursday-Saturday 11am to midnight.
Location: Northwest corner of 4th Street and Mill Avenue.
Menu: Mostly Italian, with Mediterranean touches.