| 05/24/2003 (5 out of 5 stars) Mali is a country near the West Coast of Africa & home to many talented world-class musicians. Habib Koite & his band, Bamada, are among this elite group. This CD consists of ALL original compositions and songs written by the artist. The music is ambient, soothing, soulful and very pleasing. It is played on both modern and traditional instruments, making it very authentic. The acoustic guitar, flute, bass guitar, combine with the African instruments, calabassa, kamali ngoni, caragnan, tamani, tamamba, guiro, dum dum & balafon. The Mali language sounds poetic and lyrical . translations to the songs in the liner notes gives us a cultural perspective to the words & music. We learn that tere is a form of superstition that applies to women. Habib sings and asks if men also have tere , which refers to being given a sign or message . In the song, No More Cigarette , one wonders if Habib is writing a protest song against the tobacco industry. In