it's the improvisation in his pieces that probably throws people off. I'd consider him more of a classical composer, too.
i need to buy ALL of his filmworks releases. just because it's a daunting undertaking to buy all 13 or so. i listened to the 13th one, and it was kinda similar to ennio morricone stuff. very cool. one thing i like about his stuff is the conceptual thought put into the creation of the music. like that IAO release, with the aleister crowley basis. and each project has a different scope, a different feel- he's a very versatile composer. and DAMN prolific- like 3 filmworks cds in 2002 alone. and yeah- where can i get his stuff for CHEAPZ?
He quite likes jazz too. Masada is my favourite current jazz band and Zorn is a player and the sole songwriter in the band. They are kinda similar to Ornette Coleman's early pianoless quartet + jewish/yiddish influences. Quite good, look them up. Live at the Tonic 2001 is my favourite right now. He's also done quite a bit of jazz stuff here and there (the Spy vs. Spy album which is full of Coleman covers, some of his playing in Naked City..)
Is the distro such that one could mabye find it at a chain store? Or is online ordering most likely going to be the way to find it?
Tzadik definitely makes into some chain stores. Tower could very well have it (though they're not likely to keep it in stock forever), but The CDZone in the mall definitely won't. Amazon / Barnes and Noble should carry most Tzadik releases. I don't think you'll have trouble finding it at all. Should be (much) easier than finding Dark Symphonies releases.