Bursting out of the eclectic Ann Arbor music scene, University of Michigan graduates Nomo seamlessly fuse Afro-Caribbean beats, free jazz and electronic dance music into a gloriously chaotic big-band party. They’ve shared stages with Earth, Wind & Fire, Can and Radiohead, and their spectacular live performances have earned them a deal with the California-based Ubiquity Records.

Mid-June saw the release of their third album, “Ghost Rock,” and they’re kicking off the nationwide tour in support of the record at the Comerica CityFest at Detroit’s New Center Area, playing the Jazz & Blues Stage Wednesday evening. Saxophonist and all-around band leader Elliot Bergman, for one, is excited to be there…

Nomo is a large group of musicians…How did this all start?
We got together about five years ago. A lot of us were in the jazz studies program at the University of Michigan, and so we all lived together in this big house and it started off kind of loosely. Everyone that we knew was involved, and over the past five years we’ve whittled it down.

There was a nebulous in the first year where sometimes up to 17 people would be involved in the show, but it quickly went down to an 8-piece band. We started off playing ragtime then moved into big band then be-bop then modal jazz then straight jazz (laughs). We started off a little bit closer to a traditional afro-beat sound then tried to move away from that blueprint as time went on. With each record, we want it to sound more like us.

There are a lot of different styles and feelings to your music, how would you describe Nomo’s sound?
It’s dance music, so that’s the root of it, but we also try to incorporate elements of free jazz. There are a lot of horns and percussion, so it’s very rhythmic. Driving, rhythmic, and danceable -- with a free-jazz experience.

Who are your main influences?
Everybody from Alice Coltrane and Talking Heads to Can and Moondog. How long do you have?

What do you think of the current Ann Arbor scene, with bands like My Dear Disco? Do you consider yourself to be part of that A2 scene?
Some of the guys in My Dear Disco are perennial members of Nomo – they show up from time to time. There’s a nice spirit to what is going on in Ann Arbor. People are helpful, people work on other projects for other people’s bands – everybody helps out. There’re a lot of great musicians in Ann Arbor and everybody’s willing to chip in. There’s a lot of nice camaraderie there.

Musically, how do Ann Arbor bands differ from Detroit bands?
They’re better than Detroit bands (laughs). I do think there’s something unusual about the Ann Arbor scene. It’s unlike any other music scene and putting your finger on something specific can be a little bit challenging. We check out a lot of different places on tour, we’ve played in most college towns in the United States and Canada, and it’s pretty rare to find such a diverse pool of bands that are all inter-related.

There are bands that are doing harsh noise, a funk band, a more traditional jazz group and a garage rock band, and they’re all hanging out at the same parties and they all share members of their bands. There’s a lot of cross-pollination that’s far-reaching. There’s a lot of openness, and that’s one of the most appealing things about the scene.

What does the name Nomo mean?
Nomo is music that dispels bad spirits.

Good to know. Are you looking forward to playing the CityFest?
I am. We played it a few years ago when it was called the TasteFest, and it’s the same people organizing it. They have a lot of great bands playing, as they always do. I’m looking forward to checking some of them out.

There’s a guy playing called Seun Kuti who’s the son of Fela Kuti (Nigerian pioneer of Afrobeat music). He’s supposed to have a really amazing live band. I’ll definitely be checking out George Clinton, too. We saw him in New Orleans and it was quite a spectacle.

Do you have anything special planned for the CityFest show?
“I think it’s the first time we’re playing the new record, “Ghost Rock,” in it’s entirety in Detroit, so people can look forward to hearing that from start to finish.

That album came out earlier this month. How has the band developed from the first two records to the new one, “Ghost Rock”?
It was a long process -- I’m really happy with it. We worked really hard on this record, and it was a different approach than the last record. The last two records were more of a document of the band playing live in a room together. This one is more of a studio effort. It has more electronic elements, and it was built from the ground up starting with loops and drums, and then adding bass and fleshing it out with horns. This record got ahead of us – we had to play catch up and learn how to do all of the stuff live after the record was finished.

For those that haven’t witnessed you yet, describe the Nomo live experience?
We usually have eight people on stage. It’s really a raucous dance party. People are jumping around, dancing, and it’s a lot of fun. It’s a high energy show.