Toshiyuki Daitoku -- Skifflin'

According to The Free Dictionary: skiffling refers to a preliminary process in stonecutting where projections and knobs beyond the required dimensions of the stone are knocked off.

So I kinda wondered for a few minutes about how that word would apply to jazz pianist Toshiyuki Daitoku's（大徳俊幸）2nd album "Skifflin'" from 1981, and then I surmised from the album cover that you see in the video thumbnail above, perhaps the title may be referring to the natural process of the ocean smoothing off the rough edges of any stones over thousands of years. Perhaps it may even be analogous to how Daitoku shapes his music.

Well, I gotta admit that the title track from "Skifflin'" is indeed smooth as Daitoku glides over those black and white keys like a pro surfer over a massive wave. And indeed, this is a nice number for summer listening...or winter listening when one wishes that it were summer, which would probably apply to just about everybody in Toronto.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a whole lot of information on Daitoku but he was born in Tokyo in 1948 and graduated from Seikei University where he had begun his career. He's participated as a member in a number of jazz groups such as the George Otsuka Quintet, and released his first album as the leader of his own outfit in 1976, "Snapdragon". I'm not sure how active he has been currently, but apparently he is providing jazz piano lessons via Yamaha Music.