It seems like music in RPGs isn't discussed as much as it should be, even though, even with *cough, ahem* establishment (read: console) RPGs... even though it's become an industry unto itself, as in with all the RPG soundtrack CDs that are available, and with, especially in Japan itself, whole symphony concerts playing arrangements of game music. In other words, the musical arm of the JRPG merchandising industry found it smart to take on the trappings of the anime merchandising industry. This is only my opinion here, but a seminal moment for RPG music (even RPGs in general, even before the PlayStation Era) seemed to be the opera scene with Celes from Final Fantasy VI.
That's all I'll start off saying, as I want to encourage others here to come at this topic from any and all angles. This obviously isn't an RPG, but video game music first got on my radar ever since the release of the shooter Gyruss to the arcades in 1983.
There are two questions I wanted to ask first, however:
Have there been any JRPGs born of this indie RPG confederation that took on an Easy Listening/Light Jazz (or even Big Band) theme for nearly the whole game's soundtrack? As crazy as that sounds in a genre where Neo-Classical and Wagnerian musical themes still rule the roost, recall that Capcom did exactly this for a good number of tracks in Breath of Fire III (though no Big Band of course). Also, for those of you who are developers, or the music composer for a developer, has this ever been considered?