American pianist working on sad motif (4,6)

I believe the answer is:

fats domino

'american pianist' is the definition.
(US pianist, 1928-2017)

'working on sad motif' is the wordplay.
'working' indicates an anagram.
'on'+'sad'+'motif'='onsadmotif'
'onsadmotif' with letters rearranged gives 'FATS DOMINO'.

(Another definition for fats domino that I've seen is " "Ain't That a Shame" singer and pianist".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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