Chicago native Tori Sparks' fifth studio album El Mar is a collaboration with Spanish musical trio Calamento. Tori's blues and rock sensibilities mixed with Calamento's atypical take on flamenco fusion has spawned a unique and emotional bilingual record. El Mar was recorded in Barcelona, at the studio of Grammy Award winner Cesar J. de Cisneros. From dark and slinky "Mama," to Middle Eastern influenced "Flor de Estambul," to a heartbreakingly beautiful Spanish translation of Roy Orbison's "Crying" ("Llorando"), the repertoire mixes original compositions with artful selections from the Spanish, Mexican, and American songbooks. Tori 's previous four albums have been praised by the Los Angeles Times, NPR, The Village Voice, CMJ, All Music Guide (5 stars), others, and tracks from the same have appeared on MTV, Lifetime, and the Oxygen Network. Tori plays an average of 200 concerts per year, and will be on the road throughout 2014 in support of El Mar.