Genre Jumble, December 1 at T.T. the Bear's

Berklee presents Genre Jumble, a showcase of up-and-coming alumni and student bands, featuring rock, indie pop, world, and r&b music by Zili Misik, Stealing Jane, the Hollow Sound, and Kevin Ross.  Berklee Genre Jumble happens at T.T. the Bear's Place, located at 10 Brookline Street, Central Square, Cambridge, MA, on Monday, December 1. The show is 18+, $8 ($5 for Berklee alumni and students with ID), and begins at 8:30 p.m. For more information, call 617 492-BEAR or visit ttthebears.com. 

While Berklee presents showcases for alumni regularly in New York and other cities, this is the first Boston-area club showcase for student and alumni bands to perform together. The Office of Alumni Affairs plans to host additional joint alumni/student events locally in an effort to foster relationships between alumni and current students, and to involve alumni more with student programming so they can maintain a connection with the college after graduation.

Zili Misik is a nine-piece, all-female band that bridges cultures, generations, and continents. With captivating sounds that evoke the African continent, Zili retraces routes of forced exile and cultural resistance through rhythm and song. Powerful Haitian, Brazilian, and West African rhythms infuse Zili's original creations and traditional folk songs, while inspiring audiences to dance.  Reconnecting Haitian mizik rasin, jazz, roots reggae, samba, Cuban son, and neo soul, Zili honors its influences while creating a sound that is uniquely its own.  Their songs are sensual, political, self-reflective, and positive, with lyrics that glide seamlessly from English to Kreyòl to Portuguese to Spanish.

Stealing Jane has blended various genres of music to create tunes that gratify every inch of the ear. This eight-man unit has managed to grab the attention of the fickle independent music scene with a genre-defying harmony of rock, pop, and r&b music. The group serves up a fresh new sound that gets people moving. Stealing Jane has shared the stage with many well-known artists, such as Ryan Cabrera, OneRepublic, Spin Doctors, Tower of Power, Antigone Rising, Pepper, Tantric, As Tall As Lions, Toots & the Maytals, Catch 22, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, State Radio, Zox, RX Bandits, and the Wailers, just to name a few.

The Hollow Sound, including Berklee students Maddie Herec and Adam Gruss, formed in early 2005. Their latest EP, The Life & Times of The Hollow Sound, was produced by Rob Freeman (Armor for Sleep) and Mike Poorman (ex-Hot Rod Circuit, produced Piebald), and mastered by Gavin Lurssen (Cartel, Elvis Costello). The Hollow Sound performed at the Van Warped Tour 2008 and played the CMJ Music Marathon in 2006 and 2007. They were top 5 finalists in mtvU's Best Music on Campus contest and have shared the stage with bands including Rookie of the Year, the Matches (Epitaph), Kaddisfly, and many others. The group is currently working on their debut full-length album.

Kevin Ross, a Berklee student originally from Washington, D.C., possesses the next meaningful voice of his generation. Ross is a trained vocalist and performer with an engaging stage presence and charismatic personality. His rich tone, creative ideas, and piano skills are influenced by some of the greats of r&b and soul, including Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, and Luther Vandross. Ross recently appeared live on the Fox 25 Morning Show, and on BET's 106 and Park program, performing his single "Adore U," which also appears on the Heavy Rotation Records compilation CD Dorm Sessions Volume 5.