If Saturday was the day of the axe at the Pittsburgh Blues Festival, Sunday was the day of the voice.

	Jim White, Post-Gazette Jill West belting out the blues.

Saturday was filled with often-stunning guitar solos, but which sometimes pushed the vocals and lyrics into the background. That's cool, but sometimes I like to hear the words, too.

Yesterday there seemed to be more voices -- blues voices, country voices, R&B and soul voices. And they all sounded pretty durned good.

Pittsburgh's Jill West might have been one of the bluesiest. She and her band, the Blues Attack, cranked out a set of good old-fashioned, straight-ahead, tough mama blues.

One of my favorites was "Love Song in C." Jill announced it by saying that there aren't many love songs in the blues. Heck, I thought all blues songs were love songs.

	Jim White, Post-Gazette A soulful Eric Lindell.

Eric Lindell is a California bluesman who transplanted himself to New Orleans, and seems to have combined the best of the laid-back Left Coast lifestyle with the Big Easy vibe, and produces great, soulful music that's as much R&B as it is straight blues.

There were funky rhythms, James Brown-like riffs, Neville Brothers crooning -- and Lindell seemed to be enjoying himself as much as the audience did.

And I've never seen a tough young blues guy do chorus-line dance kicks with his bass player before. But Lindell did. Actually, except for the tattoos, he wasn't a tough young blues guy at all -- he looked more like a '60s hipster, a throwback to when the band partied with the audience.

For me, Lindell was one of those festival surprises, where you hear someone you haven't paid a lot of attention to, and discover a really fine talent. The players (especially Sean Carey on harp and Chris Mule on guitar) were outstanding, and Lindell's soulful vocals tied everything together.

They didn't do anything flashy (except for the dance line), they just sang great songs with great feeling. If you closed your eyes, you'd think you were listening to one of the great old R&B singers.

Of all the work he did, one of my favorites was his take on the old Buck Owens tune, "Cryin' Time Again." Soulful, smooth, country, rootsy -- outstanding.

	Jim White, Post-Gazette Peter Karp spins a musical tale.

I've already written a lot here last week (including an interview) about rootsy singer/songwriter Peter Karp, whose new album "Shadows and Cracks" I found to be musical, intelligent and a lot of fun.

He brought his Roadshow Band (bass and drums) for a set yesterday.

He's just as much fun in person, embellishing his songs with asides to the fans parked a few feet in front of him, dramatic flourishes and flashes of humor.

One thing that comes across more strongly with Karp in person is his strong guitar playing. He whipped out a slide and delivered a completely personal, dramatic revision of Robert Johnson's "Stones in My Passway," paying homage to both Johnson and his musical heir, Robert Lockwood Jr.

But the best thing about Karp's music, I think, is his intelligent lyrics. From "The Grave" to "Arson's Match" to "Shadows and Cracks," they're smartly written and wrapped in excellent rootsy, bluesy music.

I hope you were all paying attention to the lyrics.

Unfortunately, Karp's set was slightly abbreviated by scheduling issues. Too bad. I thought he was just getting into his considerable groove..

	Jim White, Post-Gazette Delbert McClinton.

That brings us to Delbert McClinton, who closed the night and the festival with the kind of show that's best described as -- a great Delbert McClinton show.

He ran through a set of McClinton standards -- "Squeeze Me In," "Every Time I Roll the Dice," "Old Weakness" -- and everything else he does, with polish and skill, and plenty of enthusiasm. Delbert has always written great little slice-of-life songs (after "Squeeze Me In," he growled, "That's a true story."), set them to rootsy music with a roadhouse bent, and produced a body of work that's always entertaining.

His band was sassy, with horns adding a little extra kick, and his own harp made soulful contributions.

If I had to find one little complaint about his set, it was that the sound mix didn't always bring out the vocals, so you could hear all those fine lyrics clearly.

But McClinton sent the festival off into the cool, clear Hartwood night with a rousing finish -- hard to ask for more.

	Jim White, Post-Gazette Motown seemed to like the warp and woof of the music.

In the next day or two, I'll take more of a look at the overall festival, and address some of the comments that have come in to BlueNotes about the "blues" in the blues festival. Meanwhile, keep those cards and letters coming with your thoughts.

One final note. The festival is a fun festival, with something for everyone, from Frisbees to a tattoo tent to a relaxing family day.

I managed to get a photo of one especially attentive festival-goer, Motown, above, keeping his eye on the musical events. Motown, of Monessen, even brought along his companions, Bob and Mary Suomela, to enjoy the show.