Renato D'Aiello was born in Naples on March 21, 1959. He studied saxophone in Italy with Antonio Andolfi before working with three American players who shaped his sound directly: Sal Nistico, Steve Grossman and Tony Scott. His professional career began at home, playing in bassist Giovanni Tommaso's big band for director Pupi Avati's Italian television program in 1986-87, and Discogs independently confirms a second Italy-based credit from the same period: tenor and soprano saxophone on Thankin' You (1988), a release by the Sergio Esposito Jazz Group featuring drummer Alfredo Golino. Discogs also lists D'Aiello as a member of Idra, described in its own artist profile as "an Italian jazz supergroup that played in the late 1980s," with a further Discogs-verified credit ("Bad Wolf") on the various-artists box set Biennale '88 (1989).

In 1987 D'Aiello received a full tuition scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. International work followed through the 1990s: a 1991 tour with Tony Scott, tours of Japan in 1992, 1993 and 1995 with the Yoshida Masahiro Trio, and European touring in 1996-97 alongside trumpeter Art Farmer and singer Rachel Gould - the Farmer connection is stated in D'Aiello's own Discogs artist profile but has not been matched to a specific Discogs release credit, so it is not treated as a verified recording collaboration here. According to his own biography, D'Aiello has been resident in London since 1999.

As a leader, D'Aiello has released four studio albums, all tagged Jazz on Discogs. Like Someone in Love (self-released, sessions dated May 1999 and December 2000) paired him with guitarist Phil Lee and trumpeter Damon Brown, with drummer Sebastian Rochford appearing on three tracks. Introducing (2001, Spotlite Jazz), credited as "Renato D'Aiello Euro All Stars Featuring Phil Lee," added pianist Gary Husband, trombonist Mark Bassey, bassist Nicola Muresu and drummer Sebastiaan de Krom. Sintetico (2007, 33 Records) is credited on Discogs as "Renato D'Aiello With Andrea Pozza, Nicola Muresu, Keith Copeland" - a quartet record with the Genoa-born pianist Andrea Pozza on piano, Muresu on bass and the American drummer Keith Copeland - and drew a favorable review from the Guardian's John Fordham, who wrote that "D'Aiello's weighty, behind-the-beat sound shows how a poetic imagination can rekindle a long-gone style without nostalgia." Satori - The Angel (2015, 33 Records) was his first recording with a string quartet, built around the track "Angel" with vocals by Michael Demarco; press coverage names pianist Bruno Montrone, bassist Nicola Muresu and drummer Gasper Bertoncelj alongside the strings and vocalists, though this lineup is not itemized in Discogs' own release data for the album.

Alongside his own quartet output, D'Aiello's Discogs entity carries a long secondary run of Appearance credits through the 1990s and 2000s club and acid-jazz scene, mostly on Italian labels: saxophone contributions and compilation placements for Milan-based Irma Records and Schema Records, and British house/dance compilations on Defected and Hed Kandi. These are sideman and sampled-track credits rather than jazz leader dates, and sit alongside, not instead of, his core acoustic quartet catalog.

D'Aiello has taught saxophone in Italy and, since October 2007, at Goldsmiths, University of London, alongside masterclasses in Japan, the UK, Italy and Switzerland. From July 2010 to March 2020 he ran a long-running Monday-night jazz session, the Acoustic Jazz Lounge, upstairs at Ronnie Scott's in London. He maintains a musician profile on All About Jazz and has been profiled and reviewed by The Jazz Mann, London Jazz News and Something Else! Reviews.

D'Aiello plays in a mainstream, hard-bop-rooted tenor tradition built on standards and originals, shaped directly by his study with Sal Nistico, Steve Grossman and Tony Scott. The Guardian's description of his tone as "weighty" and "behind-the-beat" points to a deliberately unhurried, melody-first approach that favors the ballad and medium-swing repertoire over technical display, a trait also noted by other reviewers who single out the warmth of his sound over pure facility. His working discography has stayed close to the small-group format throughout: quartets and quintets built around guitar or piano, with Satori - The Angel his one recorded departure into a string-backed setting. His years fronting the Acoustic Jazz Lounge sessions at Ronnie Scott's situate him within London's mainstream straight-ahead scene, a scene he entered as an Italian-trained player who came up alongside American musicians rather than through the British jazz-education pipeline.