Fans of world music are in for a treat. On Monday evening, one of Africa's top musical exports will visit the Arden Gild Hall in Delaware. One of Mali's premier musicians, Habib Koite, will perform with his band, Bamada.

Koite tunes his guitar to the pentatonic scale and plays on open strings as one would on the kamale n'goni. The modern instrument was created about 20 years ago by the rebel hunters of the region of Mali known as Wassoulou. Koite also writes and performs songs that sound similar to the blues or flamenco.

"The kamale n'goni is a small, six-string instrument from my country," said Koite, who sings and plays acoustic guitar, flute and maracas. "In many of my songs, I play my guitar to sound like a kamale n'goni."

His band is a veteran group of West African musicians. The name Bamada is a nickname for residents of Mali's capital city, Bamako, and the word roughly translates as "In the mouth of the crocodile."

Mali has rich musical traditions, with many styles that are particular to the local cultures. Koite has created a new pan-Malian approach that reflects his interest in all types of music.

The style is based on the danssa, a popular rhythm from his native city of Keyes. He calls his version danssa doso, a term he coined that combines the name of the popular rhythm with the word for hunter's music (doso), one of Mali's most powerful musical traditions.

"In Mali, music is everywhere and I listen to it all," said Koite, who is a member of the Bambara tribe. "Danssa is the rhythm from my region of Mali. It can be slow or fast. I use this rhythm a lot. I also take the various other rhythms and make them my own.

"My music is a combination of traditional and modern music fromaround the world, including soul music, jazz and pop music. Music from Mali has always been very traditional. The new generation is looking for a different way. So I want to take these traditions and make something new."

Koite is using his 33-city American concert tour to help educate Americans about the plight of struggling farmers.

"Mali is a country with a high percentage of agriculture and where cotton is mostly cultivated," he said. "The Malian producers remain in poverty because of their inability to sell their products. This is a situation that must be addressed if there are true intentions to make world trade equitable and develop poor countries such as Mali."

In some recently released photos, Koite is pictured having cotton "dumped" on him to symbolize the plight of his country's cotton farmers facing unfair competition from their American counterparts. Many farmers in Mali spend more money growing the cotton than they can earn selling it at current prices.

"It is my hope that the organizations which guide world trade will establish measures to address prices and subsidies more equitable for all countries throughout the world," Koite said.