"I’m really set on doing a song in Tagalog"

Kissed and said goodbye, reluctantly. Fans of the all-female Latin/classical/jazz trio Besos de Coco featuring the guitar and vocals of Lorraine Castellanos, the bass of Evona Wascinski, and the tap-dance percussion of Claudia Gomez are advised that the group has disbanded, reforming without Castellanos as the Besos Trio with new guitarist Beston Barnett (Zzymzzy Quartet, Flimz).

“I needed to start a new chapter,” says Castellanos. “There was no dustup or drama; we are all still really close friends, which actually made it really hard to leave. I love those two and feel so lucky to have played with them for more than five years.”

Castellanos had other music she heard in her head.

“I was starting to get anxious to do something different. Being in Besos de Coco took up a lot of time. Even though I’ve always been involved in music outside the group, there was a limit on booking shows on my own or personal projects...so now I am looking forward to writing some new music and working on developing my own sound, which is important to me as a musician.”

“I’m also learning to say ‘no’ sometimes, because I was being stretched so thin from saying ‘yes’ to everything. I’m working on clearing this artist’s block that I’ve been experiencing for a while now.”

This new-found freedom is manifesting itself in her immediate plans.

“Right now, I really love to mix it up in terms of who I’m playing with. I’m kind of in an experimental phase — so I’m doing duo gigs with [guitarist] Bob Boss, [pianists] Bobby Cressey and Irving Flores, and trio gigs at the Westgate. I especially love playing with [bassist] Dean Hulett.”

“I’m enjoying this learning process and when I get it together, I will be recording a new album under my name. I haven’t made up my mind about the material yet, but I’m really set on doing a song in Tagalog, because that is in my roots even though I don’t speak it. I can sing, though, in any language.”

Moving away from a classical guitar regimen is also part of the plan.

“I used to practice eight hours a day just to keep my chops, working on Bach and other composers. Now I’m really tapping into the language of jazz again and what my version of that sounds like. I feel most free and confident doing that.”

Lorraine Castellanos and Bob Boss play Panama 66 on March 22.