WHO better than boogie-woogie piano-playing band leader Jools Holland to sing the praises of Ruby Turner, for so long such a crucial component in his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra jamborees.

"When Ruby sings a gospel song, it takes you to another place,” says Jools. “In a concert, you want people to escape from where they are and for a singer to take you somewhere else when you’re lost in the world – and it’s all done in the spirit of joy.”

Ruby's joyful spirit will be bursting into life at Castle Howard tonight in the company of Jools's big band in the first of two Summer Sounds shows this weekend to mark 25 years of concerts at the North Yorkshire country pile.

The 57-year-old Brummie singer is best known for her rhythm & blues and soul renditions, but gospel singing is in her roots. Born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, she moved at the age of nine with her family to Handsworth, Birmingham.

"My background is Pentecostal, but I didn't know nothing about anything! I was the kid who went to Sunday school and came home and said, 'Mum, I've got baptised', and she said, 'What have you done?!'. What she meant was 'how do you know anything about living the life of a Christian?'," says Ruby. "I always say, 'I left the church, but the church never left me'.

"That's why Jools and I work so well together, as we both made that connection. He suggests songs to me to sing, and we do that 'gospel moment' in the show and we just go with it! It's about the message, the love, the power of the spirit."

Ruby stresses "we're not 'selling' gospel to you" by featuring such songs in the big band concerts. "It's an introduction, where I pay homage to the great people of gospel, like Mahalia Jackson and Sister Rosetta Tharpe," she says. "You listen to that music and you would hear the passion in their singing, and so when Jools suggested doing it in the show, I was thinking, 'what is my purpose? What am I here for?' And that's what I feel: maybe this is my purpose. I've been singing all my life but now it all makes sense."

Ruby's gospel journey began with I'm Travelling On, her 2009 album of 14 songs dating from 1929 to the early 1960s, including a duet recorded with her mother Violetta. "Think of the old harmony groups that Motown built its artists foundations on. Stripped back, and spiritually fuelled. A little different some may say, but one of the best recording experiences of my life," she said at the time.

"While I was in the throes of making that album, there was a BBC Radio 2 documentary on Sister Rosetta Tharpe that I was asked to narrate. I hadn't really known about her until Jools introduced me to her song Up Above My Head, and I then did This Train on the album as a tribute to her as it was the song I fell in love with.

"It's the one she famously sang at Manchester railway station – you can watch it on YouTube – after Chris Barber [the influential British jazz musician] brought her over to this country."

Gospel singing and in turn spirituality have become cornerstones of Ruby's life. "I cannot deny that spirituality. We do what we do in the show, and in that moment, we go to that higher plain and then leave you with that thought," she says, as she prepares to sing both Up Above My Head and Peace In The Valley at Castle Howard tomorrow.

"Spirituality has become a very big part of my life and a very important part, and I don't take it for granted," "It's been 35 years in the music world for me now, and maybe I'm at a crossroads. I don't look back. I can't stop and do that.

"Right now, to be working with this amazing man [Jools Holland], singing this amazing music, words fail me. I just give thanks for it. I couldn't be in a better place. We're all striving in life and it's great to be doing this music. It must be divine intervention at work."

Ruby Turner sings with Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra at Castle Howard Summer Sounds, Castle Howard, near York, tonight.

Gates open at 5pm for 7.30pm start. Box office: 0844 871 8819, castlehowardconcerts.com or seetickets.com