[2] The son of a chauffeur and a cleaning lady, he studied at the minor seminary in Rouen, but was expelled in 1947 for reading Alfred de Musset's La Confession d'un enfant du siècle [fr].
[3] Robert Quibel, who in his youth had been a member of a choir and had learned harmony, started out in the late 1950s as a musician in variety and jazz bands.
[5] In 1963, he joined the group "The 4 Trombones Incorporated ",[6] initiated by trombonist Raymond Fonsèque, with Charles Orieux, Michel Camicas, François Guin (trombones), Bernard Vitet (tp & flugelhorn), Jean-Louis Chautemps (saxophone) and Peter Giger (drums), who recorded four original compositions by Raymond Fonsèque (not commercially released).
In 1968, he accompanied several trombonists (Raymond Fonsèque, François Guin, Luis Fuentes, Christian Guizien, Charles Rieux, Slide Hampton) at the Concert de Jazz au Studio 105 devoted to the trombone.
Robert Quibel has collaborated with many famous artists, including crooner Paul Anka, singers Serge Reggiani, Catherine Sauvage and even Édith Piaf, with whom he had the honor of playing at her last concert at the Olympia.