Now in its twelfth year, Blue Note Jazz Festival pushes past the boundaries of genre and setting suggested by its name. Much of the action moves beyond its downtown home, starting from the sizzling opening bell: Grace Jones, a uniquely severe singer who, by all appearances, was incubated in Jamaica, Studio 54, and the third moon of Jupiter. She headlines Hammerstein Ballroom on May 31, bringing a vampiric chill to a contemporary pop landscape predicated on the impression of personability. Subsequent nights star Chucho Valdés & Paquito D’Rivera, NxWorries, and Talib Kweli. And on June 18, at SummerStage, the festival hosts the type of blues summit unlikely to be seen again, as Buddy Guy fronts a meaty lineup billed not merely as the guitarist’s goodbye—this is his “Damn Right Farewell.”