Uffe Savery (born April 5, 1966) & Morten Friis (born August 21, 1968) met in 1977 in Copenhagen, Denmark, where they were both members of Tivoli-Garden. They later formed a classic ensamble/percussion duo, while attending the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music, and released 6 albums throughout the 1990s, until they were discovered by producer & DJ Michael Parsberg in 2000. This resulted in the track Played-A-Live (The Bongo Song) which became the most popular song in Europe that year. The mix of classical elements fused with trance, tribal and pop resulted in major mainstream success and two more albums the following three years.

The 2008 album Origins saw the duo returning to their classical roots, inspired by world music and artists such as Mike Oldfield.

Safri Duo have worked with prominent names such as Michael McDonald (featured on the track Sweet Freedom) and Youssou N’Dour (three tracks on the Origins album). They performed live with Aqua at the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 in Copenhagen and Jean-Michel Jarre at his AERO concert in Denmark, September 7, 2002.