Safri Duo

Biography

Safri Duo is a Danish electronic percussion duo composed of Uffe Savery (born 5 April 1966) and Morten Friis (born 21 August 1968). Initially classically oriented, they later made a track mixing both tribal sound and modern electronica. Released in 2000, "Played-A-Live (The Bongo Song)×Played-A-Live (The Bongo Song)2000 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Played-A-Live (radio cut)3:192Played-A-Live (original club version)8:373Played-A-Live (DJ Tandu mix)7:434Played-A-Live (Spanish Fly remix)9:355Played-A-Live (Nick Sentience mix)7:40", became one of the most popular songs in Europe in 2001. The single and subsequent album, Episode II×Episode II4 June 2001 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Played-A-Live (The Bongo Song)6:462Snakefood6:043A-Gusta5:394Samb-Adagio5:585Everything6:016Everything Epilogue2:367Crazy Benny5:328Baya Baya5:259Adagio5:1210Sweet Freedom3:22 each sold one million units worldwide, making Safri Duo the most internationally successful Danish act since Aqua.

Early years

Uffe Savery and Morten Friis met in 1977 while attending the Tivoli Garden Boys' Guard, and later, during their time at the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music, formed an experimental duo, called Safri Duo, whose name originated from the first letters of their respective surnames. Several albums were recorded and released through Chandos Records, on which the duo performed pieces by both famous classical (e.g. Bach, Mendelssohn, Ravel, whose works were arranged by Savery and Friis for two marimbas, or for marimba and vibraphone) and contemporary composers (a.o. Reich, Nørgård, Ter Veldhuis). Their performances of, especially, Ter Veldhuis' Goldrush, Ravel's Alborada del gracioso and Anders Koppel's Toccata for vibraphone and marimba are often labelled as small milestones by fellow percussionists, as well as other musicians or people related to the world of classical music.

Mainstream success

Earlier in 2000, a track named "The Bongo Song" started appearing on clubs' playlists. Produced by Michael Parsberg, it soon got airtime on MTV Europe. The mix between tribal drums over trance proved to be a success, and it ended the year as one of the best selling singles in Europe in 2000 as well as featuring prominently in the opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. This resulted in Safri Duo guesting along with Danish pop group Aqua during the interval of the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 held in Copenhagen. "The Bongo Song" was featured prominently during the 2002 Commonwealth Games held in Manchester, England as well as the soundtrack of FIFA Football 2003. The album, named Episode II×Episode II4 June 2001 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Played-A-Live (The Bongo Song)6:462Snakefood6:043A-Gusta5:394Samb-Adagio5:585Everything6:016Everything Epilogue2:367Crazy Benny5:328Baya Baya5:259Adagio5:1210Sweet Freedom3:22, hit the market on 4 June 2001, nine tracks long, all featured the same percussion-electronica combination, except "Adagio" that kept the former classic line of the duo. A reissue added a second remix-only CD and the single "Sweet Freedom" recorded with Michael McDonald was released on 30 September 2002 (also "Everything" appeared in this CD Single as a B-Side). Two more tracks from Episode II were released as singles, "Samb-Adagio×Samb-Adagio23 July 2001 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Samb-Adagio (Radio Cut)3:042Samb-Adagio (Original Club Version)8:56" and "Baya Baya". The Bongo Song became the anthem of the world-famous Coco Bongo super club in Cancún, where it is the party opening song every night.

3.0

In 2003, the new album 3.0 was released. It features Clark Anderson as vocalist on several of the tracks, including "All the People in the World×All the People in the World17 November 2004 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1All the People in the World (album version)3:412All the People in the World (Steve Mac Bongoloid remix)7:183All the People in the World (F & W remix)7:394All the People in the World (DJ Isaac remix)7:44", "Agogo Mosse" and "Laarbasses". The track "Rise" was later released in a new version titled "Rise (Leave Me Alone)×Rise (Leave Me Alone)2004 · Single · RemixSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Rise (Leave Me Alone) (Radio Edit)3:532Rise (Leave Me Alone) (Extended)5:523Rise (Leave Me Alone) (CS-Jay Remix)6:534Rise (Leave Me Alone) (Electro Mix)6:135Rise (Leave Me Alone) (Airbase Damage Remake)10:00" which features Anderson on vocals. In 2004, the duo released a remix album of 3.0 titled 3.5 (3.0 The Remix Edition). It includes "Rise (Leave Me Alone)" and several other tracks with Anderson as vocalist and remixes of several tracks from 3.0. They also played in the concert of Jean-Michel Jarre (AERO Concert) on his song "Rendez-Vous 4".

Origins

Safri Duo's latest album Origins×Origins17 November 2008 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Origins4:002Apollo3:213Twilight4:224Horizon, Part I3:385Athena4:436Lunar3:587Supernova4:108Corpus Rex2:259Moments3:3410Horizon, Part II5:54 was released on 17 November 2008.