JAZZ REVIEW : Condensed Bopsicle Plays It Warmly Traditional : There was really only room for three of the five-piece ensemble at Vinnie’s in Costa Mesa. But the audience didn’t miss a thing.

It was a stripped-down version of jazz-vocal band Bopsicle that played Vinnie’s on Sunday afternoon. Usually a five-piece ensemble that includes trumpet and drums, this edition, dubbed “Bopsiclette” by its leader Jack Prather, was a three-piece combo in deference to the acoustically intimate confines of the narrow room.

That made things a little more challenging for bassist Prather, guitarist Mark Waggoner and singer Stephanie Haynes during this, their first appearance as a trio.

Still, anyone hearing the group for the first time wouldn’t have missed the other two musicians. And that says something about the three who did play.

No drummer to keep the rhythms pinned down? No problem. Prather’s adept upright work served perfectly as timepiece, as well as adding melodic interest and harmonic tracking. And when Prather soloed, Waggoner traced spare accompaniment, just enough to guide listeners into the bassist’s improvisation.

Not having the usual second front-line voice provided by trumpeter Ron Stout added more weight to vocalist Haynes’ duties. But if this was a burden, she never let it show.

Haynes worked with ease and confidence, whether in tandem with Prather’s voice or taking the lead alone. Though her own playfully rhythmic approach may have been tempered somewhat by the lack of a percussionist--it made her sing more directly to the beat--she still added pleasing tones and worked a wonderfully instrumental approach when scatting. She even picked up a shaker to add percussive touches.

The one thing that wasn’t different about this Bopsicle performance was the quality of the material.

Its sound is out of the standard tradition, but that doesn’t mean the band only rewarms old chestnuts. Instead, Prather uses the music he loves--the early days of be-bop and the classic period of the American songbook--to inspire his own music.

When the chestnuts do appear, they are usually in medleys that Prather assembles to pay tribute to his favorite composers, or, as in their version of “Blue Gardenia,” in unusual rhythmic formats.

Unlike Nat Cole’s classic version of “Gardenia,” this one was done at a samba pace, giving it a danceable quality and a certain extra sultriness.

Though Waggoner seemed to miss the drummer as the tune opened, Prather was able to establish a rhythmic base, and when it came time for the guitarist’s improvisation, he came on brighter than a hothouse flower.

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But the real stars of the first set were the tunes Prather wrote. Built on a variety of traditional jazz rhythms, this music’s biggest selling point is Prather’s engaging lyrics.

A writer whose words at times recall the social humor of Dave Frishberg or Mose Allison, the pieces are filled with witty turns, internal rhymes and references to other songs.

Most are sung by Haynes and Prather in unison, a style much like that employed by Jackie Cain and Roy Kral (Haynes’ voice has much in common with that of Kral’s sister, Irene Kral).

The group opened with Prather’s “Table by the Band,” a tale of a couple willing to suffer any number of indignities in a second-rate restaurant just to be close to the music (“the soup du jour is canned . . . ,” says one line).

Waggoner opened the upbeat romp with a quote from “Swinging on a Star,” and later, Prather, in a clever turn, claims, “You and the night and the music / brings out the best in me.”

Other Prather tunes performed here included “One Hell of a Nice Guy,” the story of a second-rate guitarist inspired by a Johnny Carson comment on Jimmy Stewart’s accordion playing (sample lyric: “when he picks like B.B. / You want to get a gun”).

“Dizzy’s So Dizzy,” a number about the intoxicating effects of love, dedicated to the late trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, was lifted by Haynes’ intelligent scat.

Prather’s writing skills also extend to medley arrangements. His long tribute to Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, which included both the well-known (“Take the ‘A’ Train”) and the obscure (Strayhorn’s “Lotus Blossom”), also involved twists in the lyric of “C-Jam Blues” that referenced other tunes in the Duke repertoire.

Vinnie’s is right in booking only drummer-less trios and duos in its room. Too much sound in this small room would be a detriment. Without a bandstand or piano, there isn’t much room to work.

But the sound was clean and direct and almost any seat in the room puts you close to the action. Here’s to the people who filled the room on Sunday to see Bopsicle. We can’t remember ever seeing a more attentive audience in a restaurant.