Gilbert's father was a musician, with several popular recordings in Mexico in the 1960's with the group Gil Castellanos y Su Copacabana. Even as a young aspiring trumpet player, Gilbert preferred jazz largely due to his love of the music of Freddie Hubbard. Gilbert went on to study jazz at Boston's Berklee College of Music and at the prestigious Cal Arts Academy in Southern California. While there, he became a part of the band "Black/Note" a hard bop based combo that recorded several major label albums in hard bop renaissance of the mid 1990's. Gilbert has become an in-demand trumpet artist and has performed with major stars such as Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis, Charlie Haden, Les McCann and Poncho Sanchez. Currently Gilbert is an integral part of the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, and the Anthony Wilson Nonet.