[1][2] Aarons was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Wayne State University in Detroit.
[3] He began to gain attention as a trumpet player in 1956, and started working with jazz artist Yusef Lateef and pianist Barry Harris in the latter part of that decade in Detroit.
In the 1970s, Aarons worked as a sideman for singers Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald, and saxophonist Gene Ammons.
He was also a contributor to jazz fusion, playing on School Days with Stanley Clarke, and appears with Snooky Young on the classic 1976 album Bobby Bland and B.
With Gene Ammons With Count Basie With Brass Fever With Kenny Burrell With Frank Capp With Buddy Collette With Ella Fitzgerald With Benny Golson With Eddie Harris With Gene Harris With Milt Jackson With Carmen McRae With Essra Mohawk With Zoot Sims with the Benny Carter Orchestra With Frank Wess With Gerald Wilson