Jamie Catto
James David Catto is a British musician, video director, photographer, and script editor. He was a founding member of Faithless, before leaving in 1999 to form 1 Giant Leap.Career
Educated at The Hall School, Hampstead and Shrewsbury, Catto became a founding member of Faithless, and was the one of two vocalists, art director and video director of the band. His last album with Faithless was Sunday 8PM.
After leaving Faithless, Catto formed 1 Giant Leap with Duncan Bridgeman, touring areas including Senegal, Ghana, South Africa, Uganda, India, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, America and Europe, with a digital video camera, a laptop and a stated intention to explore 'The Unity in the Diversity'. They released their first album in 2002. It was nominated for two Grammys in 2003 and sold around 300,000 copies.
The band collaborated with figures including Dennis Hopper, Kurt Vonnegut, Michael Stipe, Bono, Susan Sarandon, k.d. lang, Tom Robbins, Dido, Brian Eno, Tim Robbins, Daniel Lanois, Yoko Ono, J. P. Donleavy, Naomi Klein, Oumou Sangare, Billy Connolly, Baaba Maal, Rokia Traore, DBC Pierre, Neneh Cherry, Robbie Williams, Lila Downs, Bob Geldof, Neale Walsch, Stephen Fry, Gita Mehta, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Speech, Mahotella Queens, and Michael Franti.
In 2004, Simon Fuller and 19 Entertainment backed the production of the second 1 Giant Leap film, TV series and CD, What About Me?. The project was released on DVD on June 2008 in the UK and won the Grand Jury Best Documentary at the Red Rock Film Festival at the first screening in America at the end of 2008. The film has received critical acclaim and additional screenings, including a special screening at the DocMiami International Film Festival in 2010.
Catto and Bridgeman travelled to 50 countries and five continents recording music and interviews. The documentary features Tim Robbins, Daniel Lanois, k.d. lang, Susan Sarandon, Zap Mama, Bob Geldof, Noam Chomsky, Billy Connolly, Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra, Neale Walsch, Courtney Love, Carrie Fisher, Bhagavan Das, Ram Dass, Oumou Sangare, Rokia Traore, Stephen Fry, Eckhart Tolle, Michael Franti, Michael Stipe, DBC Pierre, Will Young, Ram Dass, Daniel Lanois, Maxi Jazz, Oumou Sangare, Mahotella Queens, Stewart Copeland, Lila Downs, Ramata Diakite, and others.
In 2020 Catto was a contributing key note speaker on The Human Potential Series: Transforming Uncertainty into Action. The speaker series included internationally acclaimed authors including Marianne Williams, A.H Almaas and Charles Eisenstein, and focused on offering practical and spiritual support for people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
