Sonny Rollins, left, receives the Miles Davis Award in Montreal Sunday from Montreal Jazz Festival artistic director André Ménard. (Montreal Jazz Festival)

The Montreal Jazz Festival bestowed awards on three of the biggest names in jazz over the weekend, including Sonny Rollins, who won the Miles Davis Award.

The tenor sax player, a legend on the jazz scene for five decades, was presented with the award Sunday ahead of his concert at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier.

Nicknamed the Saxophone Colossus, he grew up in Harlem and began playing in the bebop style, but has evolved over the years, exploring calypso, funk, R&B and pop. He played frequently with trumpeter and bandleader Miles Davis in the 1950s.

The award named for Davis has previously gone to artists such as Ornette Coleman, McCoy Tyner and Mike Stern. It is meant to honour an international artist for the entire body of his or her work.

The jazz festival also gave out:

• The Ella Fitzgerald Award for a versatile and original jazz singer or singers to vocal ensemble the Manhattan Transfer.
• The Bruce Lundvall Award for a non-musician who has contributed to advancing music to Hermann Leonard, a legendary photographer of jazz artists.
• The Spirit Award for extraordinary contribution to music to Smokey Robinson.
• The Oscar Peterson Award for a Canadian musician to Toronto's Don Thompson.
• The Antonio Carlos Jobim Award for world music to jazz bassist Richard Bona.