''Oop Bop Sh'Bam'' is a jazz standard by

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

. It has been described as "tailor made for tenor saxophone". The song title and word usage developed from "verbalizing the sounds of the new music ebop. The

scat Scat or SCAT may refer to: Education * School and College Ability Test also known as SCAT * Shrewsbury College of Arts & Technology was previously referred to as SCAT * Somerset College of Arts and Technology is referred to as SCAT Games * Skat ...

lyrics "Oop bop sh'bam a klook a mop" are an homage to drummer

Kenny Clarke Kenneth Clarke Spearman (January 9, 1914January 26, 1985), known professionally as Kenny Clarke and nicknamed Klook, was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. A major innovator of the bebop style of drumming, he pioneered the use of the ride ...

, nicknamed "Klook", who played drums in a 1946 recording of the composition with Gillespie's sextet. "Oop bop sh'bam" is based on the "

Rhythm changes The Rhythm changes is a common 32-Bar (music), bar jazz chord progression derived from George Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm". The progression is in Thirty-two-bar form, AABA form, with each A section based on repetitions of the ubiquitous I–vi–ii� ...

" chord progression with a new middle eight. It was written by Gillespie with Gil Fuller taking writing credit in order to secure publishing royalties.

References

1940s jazz standards Jazz compositions in B-flat major Bebop jazz standards Compositions by Dizzy Gillespie Year of song missing {{1940s-jazz-composition-stub