Third Thursday Jazz Night Finds New Home at Cherry Hill’s Infused Bar and Restaurant
At Infused in Cherry Hill, the crowd is greeted by Holiday Inn general manager Suzette Parungao, left; Yocontalie "Connie" Jackson; and Holiday Inn co-owner Tushar Shah on October 16, 2025. Photo by April Saul
Popular Event Makes Triumphant Return After Controversial Cancellation at Camden’s Hilton Garden Inn
BY APRIL SAUL | For AC JosepH Media
CHERRY HILL — Yocontalie “Connie” Jackson, surrounded by over a hundred happy jazz fans, was taking a victory lap at the Cherry Hill Holiday Inn’s Infused Bar and Restaurant in mid- October.
It was Oct. 16, 2025 — less than a month since James Denaro, general manager of Camden’s Hilton Garden Inn, had decided to discontinue the Third Thursday Jazz Nights that had happened there for nearly five years. Jackson, a Camden native and recording artist, had been producing them.
Denaro said complaints by staff and hotel guests and a lack of revenue compelled him to end the event held on the third Thursday of each month from 6–8 p.m., though less than a year earlier, he had told TAPinto Camden that Third Thursday was 100% safe from cancellation.
Jackson and Third Thursday devotees — most of them professionals with Camden roots and many of them seniors — were devastated.
When New Jersey State Assemblyman William Spearman introduced Jackson to Tushar Shah, co-owner of the Holiday Inn, about relocating the event there, she was warmly welcomed.
“From the time we met Connie, we were excited,” Shah said. “When she was telling us about it, I said, ‘Come on in! We are thrilled.'”
At Infused, which is next door to the Holiday Inn on Route 70, both he and his general manager addressed the crowd to express their enthusiasm for the event.
For patrons, it was a stark contrast to the Hilton, where many said they felt less than welcome and believed racism was behind the cancellation.
In recent months, the Hilton Garden had started serving the nearly all-Black Third Thursday patrons their drinks — reportedly priced at $14 for a glass of wine and as much as $24 for a mixed drink — in plastic cups, and their meals with plastic knives and forks and paper napkins.
On a recent Third Thursday at the Hliton, nonprofit executive and Camden resident Mary Arthur said she noticed “that folks who were Caucasian and were sitting outside on the deck were given glassware, silverware and cloth napkins, and I’m sitting inside with a paper cup.”
“That night was a turning point because people were seeing blatant racism,” Arthur suggested.
Jackson complained to the Hilton’s management about the plastic, was told of a broken dishwasher — and then received word that her event was canceled shortly thereafter.
For Third Thursday fans from Camden, the eviction from the Hilton — which opened in 2020 — represented a lack of respect from a much-heralded waterfront hotel that was ushered into the city with $18.3 million in tax breaks and a 20-year tax abatement.
In a statement, Ensemble Real Estate Investments, which owns the hotel, said:
"Hilton Garden Inn Camden Waterfront recently concluded its long-running Jazz Night program. We’ve truly appreciated the opportunity to host this event and welcome so many members of the Camden community over the years. As a local hospitality partner, we continually update our programming to reflect operational needs and seasonal opportunities. While Jazz Night has come to a close, we remain deeply committed to offering new programming and engaging entertainment experiences at the hotel and within our restaurant, Water Street Grill. We look forward to welcoming both residents and visitors to upcoming gatherings, including our holiday celebrations, themed dinners, and weekly Champagne Brunch."
Camden City Councilwoman Sheila Davis, whose brother is a musician who has played at Third Thursday, said, "To hear that the jazz show would no longer be allowed at the Hilton, who we embraced coming into our city, was disheartening."
Haddonfield lawyer Rocco DePersia, who grew up in Camden, called it "a loss to the city that it doesn’t deserve."
Both Jackson and Denaro said that the event had never been marred by any trouble.
The Third Thursday guests, said frequent attendee Donna Jay, were "seniors, no riff-raff, no rap music. You got 60-, 70-, 80-year-olds! ... They’re making money, the problem was Black people."
Jackson chose the crowd-pleasing Big Ric Revue to play at the inaugural Third Thursday at Infused, with lead singer Ricardo Minter at one point bringing audience members up to sing and dance to a Temptations song.
The Holiday Inn, like the Hilton, gave Jackson $600 to pay the musicians for a night, and allowed a tip jar to be passed around. Jackson said she has never received any payment for orchestrating the event.
Camden Councilman Chris Collins called the new venue "wonderful," said the service and prices were better than at the Hilton, and that "the spirit of hospitality is here."
Spearman, whose musician son Daniel Spearman has played at Third Thursday, said of the Hilton, "If they don’t want our money, we’ll find somebody who wants it."
Arthur, who never misses the jazz night, said, "I’m very happy for Connie, she’s worked so hard. Am I happy that we were kicked out of Camden? No!"
At Infused, Jackson celebrated by letting the musicians play an extra half-hour and ended the evening by taking the mic to sing her appreciation.
"I’m so glad you came out tonight," she crooned to the crowd, "and that we had a Third Thursday with glass and no plastics!"
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