Paris After Dark with Sacha Boutros

Sacha Boutros

Sacha Boutros has travel plans, musical travel plans, that is. The singer is preparing for the inaugural concert “Paris After Dark” in her Music Without Borders series. “It will be like going to Paris without a passport,” she says. “We’re going to transport you to Paris and all the music you hear as you walk down the street or step off the subway.”

As part of Sacha’s Supper Club, the concert and CD release party promises to tell the story of 100 years of French and American composers who helped shape the iconic soundtrack of the City of Lights.

Joining Boutros for the show will be an international roster of musicians, many of them traveling to San Diego specifically for this celebration. “When I first went to Paris in 2017, I researched who the great jazz players were there,” Boutros says. Among the members of the ensemble Boutros recruited is French jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, and drummer Stéphane Belmondo. Local talents will also be there, including Jon Garner, who, among other things, is known for his exceptional performance of Gypsy jazz guitar music.

Sacha on the air live at Jazz88.3 FM with Ron Dhanifu.

Boutros’ entire life and career has been one of bringing the joy of music to audiences all over the world. The part-time community activist performs here in her home town of San Diego as well as regular performances in her adopted homes of New York and Paris. She has performed with or opened for James Moody, Marvin Hamlisch, Julio Iglesias, the man who introduced the world to the twist, Chubby Checker, as well as scores of other great pop and jazz talents. Her recordings are loved by fans and acclaimed by her fellow members of the music industry, and a recent recording received a Latin Grammy. In 2006, Riviera San Diego magazine took note of Boutros as one of the “hottest music artists to come out of San Diego.”

With decades of experience as a performer, the former semi-professional soccer and tennis player is possibly one of the most relaxed musicians to take to a stage, easily connecting with her audience. “You go see a lot of jazz musicians and there’s no personality. I want to see somebody who is entertaining,” she says. “I don’t want to see somebody with an attitude. I’m not about ‘listen to me.’ I want to connect with people. All those people took time to come out to hear you; you owe them some respect.”

Half Mexican and half Lebanese, Boutros is fluent in Spanish, English, and French, and she is more than familiar with Italian, Portuguese, and Arabic. She possesses an international mindset that informs her music, singing in 14 languages. “My first project was New York After Dark. The sounds of the city after dark with the great jazz legends of the city,” she says. “And I like to do music without borders because I don’t believe there are borders when it comes to music. I wanted to create bridges between the U.S. and other places.”

She champions women and minorities with her production company Hear Me Roar, which curates entertainment for Fortune 500 companies. Her programs are diverse and inclusive and able to foster a sense of belonging for artists and audiences. Proceeds from the concert will support Boutros’ nonprofit Sacha’s Supper Club, with funds going to buy musical instruments for children growing up in Barrio Logan and San Ysidro.

The concert will be held at La Jolla’s Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, or as most folks refer to it, “the Conrad.” The $80 million 49,200 square foot performance center is renowned throughout the world for its beauty and impeccable acoustics.

New England-based Epstein Joslin Architects relied on traditional European concert halls as the inspiration for the design of the Conrad’s heart, the Baker-Baum Concert Hall. The design team also relied on the history of San Diego and the Southwest by incorporating earth tones and geometric figures that add more than a hint of Southwest art deco. Yasuhisa Toyota, president of Nagata Acoustics America, designed the acoustics of the hall, which can be adjusted for standard performances and amplified ones. The hall even uses ultra-quiet air conditioning.

The night promises to be a gem of a musical experience: Paris, the Conrad, and Sacha Boutros in one experience. The singer adds, “I’m excited to present the project because I produced it and wrote a lot of the arrangements for it. And I’m excited to be playing at the Conrad!”

Sacha’s Supper Club presents Paris After Dark, September 20, 7:30pm. Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, 7600 Fay Ave., La Jolla.