Sacha Boutros: San Diego to Paris and back again.

Three years ago, jazz-vocal chanteuse (and native San Diegan) Sacha Boutros pulled up stakes and moved to Paris, France, frustrated by the lack of opportunity for performance in her hometown. Now she’s back, at least for the moment. “I have two homes, one in San Diego, and one in Paris,” says Boutros. “The pandemic brought me back, because Paris shut down completely and I really missed my family. There were lines for food, and it felt like I was living in World War II. I came back to be with my family, but then this wonderful opportunity came to me; so really, you could say that the music brought me back.”

The opportunity? Being offered a gig at Il Sogno Italiano downtown. “The owner of Il Sogno [Sean Shoja] asked me for weeks to come perform, and he was so kind, I decided to meet him for a chat. As it turned out, he had a vision to hire entertainment and give back to the community, so he hired my company [Hear Me Roar] as a consultant. I have two business degrees, and I do marketing in the music business. I’m not just a ‘chick-singer.’”

The restaurant turned out to be a boon for Sacha — and for the jazz community. She was hired as director of entertainment, which includes marketing, PR, and special events. Now there is live music there seven days a week, including Boutros herself on Saturdays, fronting a quartet with pianist Mahesh Balasooriya and bassist Luca Alemanno (both of whom come down from Los Angeles) and San Diego drummer Tim McMahon. National talent is being booked, and a slew of vocalists are penciled in.

“I want to empower women,” says Boutros. “My company focuses on promoting talented artists and women in the industry. Talent speaks for itself, and those who work and have talent interest me the most for partnerships. Sean recently opened Il Sogno, and he hired me to consult and curate the music program based on my experience with Sacha’s Supper Club. The task at hand and vision we both have is to transform the restaurant into the number one fine dining and music venue downtown. It’s like a smaller version of [L.A. mainstay] Vibrato Grill Jazz. We keep growing and building together; we are there every day of the week and are investing quite a bit in the entertainment program to ensure work for all our artists.”

So far, “Sean and I are employing musicians from San Diego, Palm Springs, L.A., and as far as Paris, France. The musicians are treated like rock stars, family, and the artists they are. We wine them and dine them and provide everything for them. They don’t have to lug in equipment; everything is available to them turnkey. They can walk in, plug in their microphone or instrument, and perform. We are so grateful for all our roster of talent and we make it easy for them to come in and play music and make people happy. Music comes from God and it’s a joy to share, and there are no egos on our team.”

Every Monday will be Martinis & Jazz night, which will also be livestreamed on the IL Sogno Facebook page, hosted by Boutros. She also has a duo gig with Las Vegas crooner Jonathan Karrant scheduled for September 14, and a collaboration with Il Sogno and the San Diego Opera is also in the works.