This entry is part of the Lexicon of Klezmer Terminology (LKT). The LKT compiles a wide array of source materials that shed light on the historical and contemporary state of knowledge about klezmer music. Each entry includes a number of citations from primary and secondary sources that include or refer to the term in question. It also indicates whether musical notation or sound recordings are included in the source. By clicking on the bibliographic hyperlink at the end of each citation, you get the full reference.
“In his report on the An-ski expedition of 1912, he [Joel Engel] tells of how a non-Jew (a Russian or Moldavian) was the head of the kelzmer band in Ruzhina. This musician even composed his own pieces for the band. ‘He tried to get me to buy a sparkling ‘majafes’ which he wrote himself,’ writes Engel.” Beregovski 1935 [= Beregovski/Slobin 1982, p. 526, n. 19].