Gabriel Isaac is originally from Maryland, in the Washington, D.C. suburbs. He began his musical explorations on the piano as a child, before teaching himself guitar as a teenager. While attending Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA, Gabriel began formal lessons in jazz guitar with Tom Kozic (a student of Joe Pass, Howard Roberts, Tal Farlow, and Kenny Burrell) and Dr. Theodore Conner, as well as classical music theory and composition with Dr. Douglas Ovens. During his education, Gabriel was a member of several jazz improvisational groups, a big band orchestra, and he also played in the pit orchestra for musical productions. After graduating cum laude with a degree in Music, Gabriel made his way to Chicago to work on a Masters in Jazz Studies at DePaul University, studying with Bob Palmieri (a student of John Scofield), Dr. Robert Lark, and Peter Ballin. While at DePaul Gabriel continued to play and record in several jazz combos and big bands, while also finding the time to jam at some of the great blues bars in the city.

Leaving Chicago behind in 2003, Gabriel traveled to Los Angeles to pursue his Doctorate in Musicology at the University of Southern California, where he studied Indian classical music, Jazz History, and 20th century Western art music, receiving a Masters in Musicology along the way and becoming a Doctoral Candidate. As part of his coursework, Gabriel continued his guitar studies with David Becker and Tim Kobza, while also sitting in on master classes with Joe Diorio, Sid Jacobs, Pat Martino, Steve Trovato, and Pat Metheny. For his Ethnomusicology studies, Gabriel learned to play the tabla, a set of hand drums from India. Gabriel learned even more about Indian culture and music while he was abroad in India for 6 months in the fall/winter of 2006/2007, researching for his dissertation. His fascination with Indian music has influenced not only his compositional writing and improvisational style, but also his teaching approach. In 2010, Gabriel decided to leave his academic studies to pursue his performance, songrwiting, and teaching career full time, which has led to opportunities to perform and record throughout the US and around the world, with several bands and artists, as well as teach some well known professional players. Gabriel was the touring guitarist for 80's hit-makers, Naked Eyes and he also plays lead in his own project, Quactus.

Some of Gabriel's guitar influences include: David Gilmour, Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King, Albert King, Freddie King, Buddy Guy, Scott Henderson, Jimmy Herring, Robben Ford, Duane Allman, Warren Haynes, Trey Anastasio, Carlos Santana, Jerry Garcia, Al Di Meola, Pat Martino, Joe Pass, Grant Green, Mike Stern, John Scofield, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Steve Morse, Marty Friedman, Guthrie Govan, Yngwie Malmsteem, Rusty Cooley, and many more.

As for non-guitarists and groups, Gabriel enjoys the music of: John Coltrane, Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, Oscar Peterson, Michael Brecker, Chick Corea, Jaco Pastorious, Dave Brubeck, Herbie Hancock, James Brown, Funkadelic, The Meters, Stevie Wonder, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Shakti, Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, Zakir Hussain, Charles Mingus, Thelonius Monk, Rush, Dream Theater, Frank Zappa, Stravinsky, Mozart, Beethoven, Scriabin, Bach, Gershwin, Chopin, and Debussy