Gabrial McNair


Gabrial McNair is a musician and composer, most famous for his work in No Doubt since 1993 as a trombonist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist. He recorded and toured with Green Day during the Nimrod and Warning tours, playing trombone and tenor saxophone. In 2003, he joined the California-based rock band Oslo where he plays the guitar.

Early life and studies

McNair attended Glendora High School in Glendora, California. He played trombone in the marching band and snare drum in the Scottish Pipe Band. After graduation, he went on to study Jazz and Music Composition at Citrus College, before moving on to California Institute of the Arts to continue his studies with Charlie Haden, Alex Iles, Joe LaBarbera, and David Roitstein.

Collaboration

During the hiatus of No Doubt, he also writes and records with bandmate/producer, Tony Kanal, in the studio on various recordings for Elan Atias, Gwen Stefani, and Pepper.
McNair also works with Toby Record and his company All Ears Music, scoring films, documentaries, commercials, and television shows.

With Oslo

His band Oslo, which includes Mattia Borrani on lead vocals and Kerry Wayne James on bass, with McNair on guitars, toured with Blue October in the Fall of 2006 on the Foiled Tour in the US and Canada.
Oslo released their second full-length album, called The Rise and Fall of Love and Hate, in 2007.

Appearances

In the late 2005, McNair went on tour with fellow band member Gwen Stefani on her solo Harajuku Lovers Tour. He joined Gwen once again on "The Sweet Escape Tour" in 2007.
He joined the Smashing Pumpkins on their 20th Anniversary Tour in 2008, playing the trombone, backing vocals, and percussion.
He also joined Lenny Kravitz on his "Black and White America World Tour" in 2011 & 2012, playing the trombone and percussion.
In 2013, he lent his vocals to the track "Desert Lullaby" on the of, composed by Naoshi Mizuta. The soundtrack was released on November 21, the same day as the release of the game in Japan; the North American and European release followed in early 2014.
In 2016, he began touring and playing keyboards for the band Tegan and Sara alongside drummer Brendan Buckley. He joined them on their 2016 world tour in support of their new record Love You To Death.
On April 9, 2017, Oslo opened for Dreamcar, a band featuring members of No Doubt and the lead singer of AFI at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco.

Selected discography