Ayler was born in
Cleveland Heights, Ohio, United States, and grew up in
Shaker Heights, graduating from
John Adams High School. He started out playing alto saxophone; however, according to
Val Wilmer, he "became frustrated when he could not achieve the mobility and sound that had come so easily to his brother. At one point he even put a tenor reed into his alto in an attempt to 'sound like Coltrane'." At the urging of his brother, who was in the process of establishing himself musically, and who was about to leave for a European tour, he switched to trumpet, participating in the recording of
Bells,
Spirits Rejoice,
Albert Ayler in Greenwich Village,
Love Cry, and several other albums, and also worked with
Paul Bley and
Elvin Jones. Other notable performances included a concert with
John Coltrane at
Lincoln Center on February 19, 1966, featuring an expanded group that included Albert and Donald,
Pharoah Sanders,
Carlos Ward,
Alice Coltrane,
Jimmy Garrison,
Rashied Ali, and
J. C. Moses. Following Coltrane's death on July 17, 1967, the Ayler quartet, now featuring the Ayler brothers plus bassist
Richard Davis and drummer
Milford Graves, played at his funeral on July 21. They performed three pieces including Donald's
Our Prayer.
Val Wilmer stated that, at the funeral service, "Donald Ayler stood on a balcony beside his saxophonist brother and played a spine-chilling lament. Wildly flagging his trumpet valves and swaying backwards and forwards, he seemed to scream through the instrument." In 1968, he departed the band, as "Albert's record company was grooming him for the rock market and did not want Donald." However, "he was unable to sustain a career", and also appeared in archival footage from various years. Ayler suffered a heart attack on October 21, 2007, and died at Northcoast Behavioral Healthcare in
Northfield, Ohio. He was survived by his father, and was buried next to his mother in Highland Park Cemetery in
Highland Hills, Ohio. ==Discography==