The concert's most expansive performance arrives with another Lovano original, featuring the evening's longest solo statements over a 24-bar form at 221 BPM. Cohen leads with eight choruses on piano, followed by Lovano's ten-chorus tenor saxophone solo — the most extended statement by either musician in the entire concert. The thirteen-minute performance has the feel of a creative summit, with both players pushing each other through nearly twenty combined choruses. Lovano originally recorded Fort Worth for his 1992 Blue Note album From the Soul, and the 24-bar form's unusual length gives the solos a different rhythmic character than the more common 32-bar and 12-bar structures. Positioned at the middle of the eleven-tune program, this extended blowing session serves as the concert's centerpiece. The intensity then eases with the ballad Star-Crossed Lovers.
