associate. When Gabrels first arrived, he became a guitarist for Brandon Giles & the Tricky Two playing bars and clubs on Nashville's Lower Broadway and occasionally on tour. In 2010 and 2011, Gabrels participated in "From Nashville to Norway" festivals in Gjøvik, Norway, organized by friends from both locales. In 2014, he began sitting in when possible with guitarist Tim Carroll at the 5 Spot venue. At the time, Carroll's band included drummer Steve Latanation and the late bass player Bones Hillman (who subsequently returned to working with his longtime band Midnight Oil). Several collaborative recordings grew out of Gabrels' Nashville activities. The Magnificent Others features Jamie Rubin's songs and lead vocals, with Gabrels on lead guitar. Sonic Mining Company, a Ropeadope Records 2012 release, is made up of improvisations by Gabrels (guitar), Frank Howard Swart (bass) and Adam Abrashoff (drums). Gabrels added guitar parts to selected recordings by other musicians over the years, including songs by gODHEAD, by Jed Davis, and by Jenn Vix, a bass player and vocalist from Providence, Rhode Island. Past recordings with Gabrels guitar tracks include albums or singles by The Mission, Deaf School, Sandie Shaw, The Rolling Stones, Ozzy Osbourne and others. In 2021/2022, Gabrels contributed guitars to Big Scenic Nowhere's sophomore album, The Long Morrow. Club D'Elf and improvisation Gabrels performs periodically with Club d'Elf, a Boston-based instrumental group led by bassist Mike Rivard. Their performances are largely instrumental and emphasize lengthy, improvised songs touching on jazz, Moroccan music, electronic and other genres. Gabrels appears on Now I Understand, (Accurate Records, 2006), their first studio recording; the album also features John Medeski and Billy Martin, DJ Logic, Mat Maneri, Duke Levine, Alain Mallet, Mister Rourke, and more. Improvising in long form gives Gabrels "the time to meander and harmonically poke at things, make the music interesting," he said in a Berklee College of Music interview in 2012. He went on to explain that free improvisation contributes to his ability in different settings, such as on stage with the Cure, "to refine that down to opportunities where I can hit that one note that throws the world off its axis for two bars," yet to do so fully within the context of the song and its lyrics. Instrumental guitar-duo collaborations (full-album co-productions) American slide guitarist David Tronzo, a fellow participant in Club D'Elf performances, and Gabrels made an instrumental album together, Night in Amnesia,