Commuting difference operators with applications to orthogonal   polynomials in several variables
  Elementary properties of the Koornwinder-Macdonald multivariable Askey-Wilson polynomials are discussed. Studied are the orthogonality, the difference equations, the recurrence relations, and the orthonormalization constants for these polynomials. Essential in our approach are certain commuting difference operators simultaneously diagonalized by the polynomials. 
J.F. van Diejen